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HISTOKT 



MONTCeMEKV 




Class £ i 7 t ' 

Book ^7^i 

Gopightl^? . 



CfiPntlGHT DEPOSm 




The Northmen on the Coast of Greenland 



AN ELEMENTARY 

AMERICAN HISTORY 



BY 



D. H. MONTGOMERY 

Author of the Leading Facts of History Series 



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By D. H. MONTGOMERY 


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I 

©CI.A508045 






PREFATORY NOTE 

This book has been prepared to meet the demand for a 
short, continuous, narrative history of our country, suited 
to the wants of elementary pupils. 

Throughout the work, the attention of the pupil is con- 
stantly directed to those events which are of primary 
interest and importance. Whenever such events have 
been shaped by the action of some well-known man, the 
writer has endeavored to show the part which that man 
contributed. By this means history becomes living and 
real even to the youngest student of its pages. 

Every prominent topic has been carefully and fully 
illustrated with appropriate cuts or maps, in order that 
the book may appeal to the eye as well as to the under- 
standing. 

Numerous cross references have been introduced for 
the convenience of teachers and of. those pupils who are 
old enough to derive benefit from them. 

The dates inclosed in parentheses are for the purpose 
of enabling those who use the book to follow the order 
of time intelligently. All of the most important dates 



vi PREFATORY NOTE 

are left uninclosed, with the view of fixing the pupil's 
attention on them. These uninclosed dates are few in 
number and can be readily committed to memory. 

Literal quotations are inclosed in quotation marks ; 
words quoted in substance only begin with a capital, but 
have no quotation marks. 

Finally, it is believed that nothing has been omitted 
which should legitimately find a place in a book of this 
class, and that nothing has been introduced which should 
be reserved for a more advanced work. 

DAVID H. MONTGOMERY. 



CONTENTS 

Page 

I. The Discovery AND Naming OF America (looo-i 507) . i 
II. How THE Spaniards, the French, and the English 

EXPLORED AND SETTLED America (i 507-1600) .... 14 

III. The North American Indians -o 

IV. The English come to America to stay; they settle 

in Virginia in 1607 -9 

V. How THE First Settlers lived in America .... 72 

VI. Wars with the Indians 81 

VII. What the French did in the West 89 

VIIi: The English Colonists in America fight the French 

AND THE Indians ^j^ 

IX. How THE King OF England ruled America . . . . iii 
X. The American Colonists quarrel with the King; 

THE War OF THE Revolution 117 

XI. The People of the United States make a New Form 

OF Government — The Constitution (1787) . ... 149 

XII. Growth of the United States under the Constitu- 

tion (i 789-1861) 15- 

The Civil War (1861-1865) 243 

The United States since the Civil War 277 

XIII. Questions i 

XIV. Index - • >^^xi 



Viii CONTENTS 

LIST OF FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 

I. The Northmen on the Coast of Greenland . . . Frontispiece 

II. Printing the Name "America" - ii 

III. Farewell to the Pilgrims 51 

IV. Mother recovering her Child from the Indians 87 

V. Washington surveying Land in Virginia 103 

VI. The Battle of Bunker Hill 127 

VII. The Origin and Development of the American Flag ... 137 

VIII. British Officers taking an American Sailor from a Ship . . 177 

IX. Professor Morse sending the First Telegram 209 

X. Finding Gold in California 221 

XL Farragut on his Way to New Orleans 255 

XII. Review of the Union Armies at Washington, 1865 . . . . 271 

XIII. The Exposition at Chicago ; the Columbus Ship .... 291 

XIV. The Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis .... 303 

LIST OF FULL-PAGE MAPS 

• 

I. The Indian Tribes of America (colored) .... facing 22 

II. The Thirteen English Colonies 93 

III. The Louisiana Country claimed by La Salle for France . . 95 

IV. French Forts at the East loi 

V. The Northern States in the Revolution 123 

VI. The Southern States in the Revolution 141 

VII. The United States of America in 1792 (colored) . . facing 158 

VIII. The Mexican War 217 

IX. The United States in the Time of the Civil War (colored, 

double-page) between 248, 249 

X. Relief Map of the United States 273 

XL Territorial Growth of the United States on the North 

American Continent 275 

XII. Island Possessions of the United States 301 

XIII. Reference Map of United States at the Present Time 

(colored, double-page) between 304, 305 



AN 
ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

I 

THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA (1000-1507) 

WHAT THE NORTHMEN FOUND IN THE WEST 

1. Who the Northmen were. — More than a thousand 
years ago a people called Northmen were living on the 
coast of Norway, They were sailors and fighters. There 
was nothing they hked better than a storm at sea or a 
battle on land. They, with men of the same name from 
the neighboring- coasts of Denmark and Sweden, used to 
push out in their fast sailing vessels, land on the shores 
of England, and return with loads of plunder. Later 
they crossed over to England and not only conquered a 
large part of that country but settled there. 

2. The Northmen discover Iceland and Greenland. — 
Not content with that great conquest, these " Kings of 
the Sea " pushed on northward and westward until they 
discovered Iceland. That, too, they seized as their own. 
A little more than a hundred years after that, a North- 
man named Eric ^ the Red crossed the sea from Iceland 
and found a country still farther west. It was a land 

1 Eric (er'ik). 



2 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

of desolation, covered with fields of ice and snow all the 
year round. But Eric said, *'If I give it a good name 
perhaps I shall get others to come here and settle"; so 
he called it Greenland. 

This name sounded so pleasant that it led some of 
Eric's countrymen to go there and make themselves 
homes. You can see to-day the ruins of a stone church 
and a broken circle of stone huts which they built on 
the south coast. (See map on page 3.) 

3. Leif Ericson finds ''Vinland/' — But far away as 
Greenland was, the Northmen were determined to go 
beyond it. About the year 1000 Leif Ericson, ^ a son 
of Eric the Red, set sail in search of a new and '' strange 
shore." He found the country he was looking for. It 
was full of vines covered with purple bunches of wild 
grapes, so he named it " Vinland the Good." From that 
time on Leif Ericson was always called " Leif the Lucky." 

4. Where was Vinland ? — Now comes a puzzling ques- 
tion : Where was Vinland ? The Northmen have never 
told us clearly where it was. Some people suppose it 
was part of the coast of Massachusetts. That may be 
true but it is not certain. The most the Northmen did 
at that time on this side of the Atlantic was simply this : 
they found somewhere a great lonely land covered with 
thick woods and given up to Indians and bears. They 
stayed for a time, and then they sailed away leaving every- 
thing just as they had found it. After they had said 
farewell to Vinland they never came back to it again. 
They seem even to have forgotten that they had ever 
seen it or eaten wild grapes there. What shall we say 

1 Leif Ericson (lif erifk-son). 



THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA 



then ? Did the Northmen discover America ? Yes, but 
they discovered it only to lose it. 

5. What the Northmen have done for America. — But 
though the Northmen did nothing then toward settling 
in this country, they did a great deal later on. Long 
after Vinland and Greenland had been abandoned, many 
of the descendants of the Northmen came from England 




Voyages of the Northmen 

to New England and made themselves homes here. You 
can see some of their names on the street signs as you 
walk along in our cities, — such common names as Johnson 
and Anderson. 

Since then, thousands and tens of thousands of emi- 
grants have come to the United States from Norway, 
Sweden, and Denmark. They are coming to-day, and 
America always gives them a hearty welcome. They are 
a good kind of people to have here. They work hard, 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



%-RANCE Venice 


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save their money, and send their children to school. In all 
these ways they are helping to build up the republic. They 
are doing their part to make America worthy of whatever 
was really best in " Leif the Lucky " and in the brave North- 
men who sailed with him and found " Vinland the Good." 

6. Christopher Columbus plans a voyage to the West ; 
trade with the Indies. — Nearly five hundred years after 
Leif Ericson found Vinland (§ 3),^ Christopher Columbus ^ 

planned a daring voyage 
to the West. 

Columbus was born in 
Genoa,^ Italy. When a 
boy he used to watch 
the ships come into that 
port. He enjoyed see- 
ing them unload the spices, silks, and pearls which they 
brought from the far East. 

These things came from the eastern part of Asia, or 
what was generally called the Indies. You will see by 
looking on the map (on page 5) that they had to be 
brought part of the way across the land, — for then the 
Suez^ Canal did not exist. Bringing goods in that way 
made them cost much more than they would have done if 
they could have come all the way by water, as they do now. 

7. How Columbus thought he could get to the Indies by- 
water. — After Columbus grew to be a man he went to 

1 This reference is to Section 3 on page 2 ; similar references will 
follow from time to time. 

2 See the Life of Columbus in Montgomery's " Beginner's American 
History" in this series, and read Joaquin Miller's fine poem on Columbus. 

3 Genoa (jen'o-a) ; see map above. 
* Suez (so6-ez'). 



THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA 



5 



sea and became a sailor. He often asked himself whether 
some way might not be found to reach the Indies by 
water. At last he said, Since the world is shaped like a 
ball, what is to hinder me from sailing straight westward 
until I get clear round to the Indies ? 

At first he hardly dared speak of this plan, because in 
that day the Atlantic Ocean had a very bad name. It was 
called the " Sea of 
Darkness." Old 
sailors believed 
that if any one 
should try to cross 
it he would never 
get back again. 

Columbus him- 
self had no such 
fear, but he was 
too poor to set out 
on such a voyage 
without help. 
After years of wait- 
ing, after he had 
been laughed at as 
crazy, he at length got King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella 
of Spain to listen to his strange plan. They thought it might 
be worth trying, and the queen aided Columbus in fitting 
out a fleet of three very small vessels for the voyage. 

8. Columbus sails westward, in 1492, to find the Indies. 
— As commander of that little fleet, Columbus set sail 
from Palos,^ Spain, in the summer of 1492. He went first 

iPalos (pa'los). 




The light parts of this map show how much of the 
world was then well known ; the white crosses show 
those countries of eastern Asia of which something 
was known. The Suez Canal, which has been cut 
through the Isthmus of Suez, connects the Mediter- 
ranean Sea with the Red Sea 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



to the Canary Islands/ thinking that would be the shortest 
way across the Atlantic (see map below). He supposed 
that the whole distance from Spain to the Indies could not 
be much more than four thousand miles. That was a 
lucky mistake, for if he had known that it is really more 
than thirteen thousand miles he would not have started. 

9. The great voyage from the Canary Islands across the 
Atlantic. — Columbus did not leave the Canary Islands 




Lisb. 



Barcelona^ 
7 SPAIN 



iailod huy.^76. 14.92/- ' 







Map showing the direction in which Columbus sailed on his great 
voyage across the ocean 

until the first week in September. Then he resolutely 
set out on his great voyage over an unknown sea. 

The sailors who went with him were brave men, but 
when they saw the shore fading from their sight they 
could not help turning their eyes toward Spain. Some 
of them covered their faces with their hands and cried 
Hke little children, for they felt that they might now be 
saying good-by to land forever. 

After they had been at sea about ten days they saw that 
the compass no longer pointed due north. That frightened 
them, for if the compass should prove false to them, how 
could they hope to keep their vessels straight on their course? 

^ Canary (ka-na'ry). 



THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA 7 

A few days later they ran into a thick mass of sea- 
weed which extended for hundreds of miles. This fright- 
ened them again, because they thought that they might 
get entangled in it and never be able to get out. 

Next they noticed that the wind had changed and that 
it now blew steadily from the east. Day after day it kept 
blowing from that quarter. This new danger frightened 
the crew most of all ; for, said they, if we have come to a 
part of the world where the wind always blows from the east, 
how can we ever turn about and sail back to Spain again ? 

Columbus did everything he could to encourage his men. 
But at last he told them plainly that they must go on. 

10. Columbus discovers land; the West Indies and the 
Indians. — The very next day one of the sailors saw a 
branch with berries on it floating by. Then another sailor 
picked up a stick which looked as though it had been 
cut with a knife. These things made them think that 
they must be approaching land. The following night 
Columbus saw a strange light, like a moving torch. Early 
the next morning a sailor shouted: ''Land! land!'' 

When the sun rose, October 12, Columbus saw the low 
shores of a small island. He landed with some of his 
officers, and, kneeling on the sand, he gave thanks to God. 

The little island was one of the Bahamas,^ not very 
far from the coast of Florida (see map on page 9). 
Columbus named it San Salvador.^ 

The naked, brown-skinned people of San Salvador had 
never seen a white man before. They stood silent, star- 
ing at the Spaniards. Columbus supposed that this island, 
and the others which he afterward found, belonged to 

^ Bahamas (ba-ha'mas). ^ gan Salvador (san sal-va-dSr'). 



8 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Asia and the Indies. Since he had found them in the 
west he named them the West Indies. For the same 
reason he called the naked savages, who lived on these 
islands, Indians. 

11. Columbus returns to Spain ; he makes three more 
voyages. — The next spring the great navigator went 
back to Spain. He was received like a prince. Every 
one supposed that he had found a new and direct way of 
getting to the Indies by water, and that he would soon be 
bringing back silks and spices by shiploads. Columbus 




This map shows how Columbus (not knowing that America lay in the way) hoped to 
reach Asia and the East Indies by sailing west from Spain. The countries not 
then known are shown covered with dark shading; for instance, nothing was 
then known of Africa except the coast, and nothing at all of North and South 
America and Australia 

made three more voyages across the Atlantic, but they 
all ended in disappointment. He could not reach the 
Indies that he was trying to get at, because he came up 
against a long line of seacoast which blocked his way 
like a wall (see map above). 

He supposed that seacoast was a part of Asia. Again 
and again he tried to find some passage through it for his 



THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA 



9 



ships. At last he gave up hope. He was worn out in 

body and sick at heart, and he went back to Spain to die. 

In one way he had failed, for he had not found the 

Indies he was looking for. But in another way he had 




The light parts of this map show how much of America Columbus dis- 
covered. (The long island is Cuba; the large one to the right is 
San Domingo. San Salvador is a very small island north of Cuba) 

succeeded; for, without knowing it, he had found a 
country far greater and richer than the Indies — he had 
discovered America. 

So, too, the Northmen had discovered it nearly five 
hundred years before (§3). We have seen that they lost 
all knowledge of what they had found. But this time 
that discovery never would be lost. 

12. What John Cabot did in 1497. _ But although 
Columbus discovered America, he never set foot on any 
part of the mainland very far north of the Isthmus of 
Panama (see map above). It was John Cabot,i another 
Italian, who did that. 

He was living in Bristol, England, when the news 
came that strange countries had been found on the other 

1 Cabot (kab'ot). 



lO 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



side of the Atlantic. That made him determine to see 
what he could find in the same direction. In June, 1497, 
he came in sight of land. It was probably a part of the 
American coast near the southern entrance to the Gulf 
of St. Lawrence (see map below). 

There John Cabot and his son went on shore and 
raised the English flag. His discovery gave the country 

to the king of England, 
^ and, for that reason, it 
gave the English people 
the right to come over and 
make settlements in North 
America. But, strange to 
say, they waited nearly a 
hundred years before they 
did so. 

13. How America got its 
name. — While Columbus 
was living, another Italian, 
whose first name was 
Amerigo,^ or, as he some- 
times called it, Americus, 
made a voyage westward from Spain. He sailed south- 
ward along the shores of Brazil. ^ 

After he returned to Europe he wrote some letters 
describing what he had seen. He called the countries he 
had visited in the southwest a ^'New World." These 
letters were published and a teacher, who lived in what is 

1 His whole name was Amerigo Vespucci (a-ma-ree'go ves-poot'chee), 
or, as he wrote it in Latin, Americus Vespucius (am-erl-cus ves-pu'shus). 
'^ Brazil (South America) (bra-zir). 



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Map showing how much of the continent of 
North America was discovered by John 
Cabot and his son 




Printing the Name "America" in 1507. 



II 



12 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



now a part of France, read them. It happened that this 
teacher was preparing to print a Httle book of geography. 
In it he gave an account of the three continents of Europe, 
Asia, and Africa, — which, of course, everybody knew 
about. Then he spoke of the " New World " of which 
Amerigo had just written. In doing so, the teacher said, 




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Map of 1515, showing what some geographers then supposed North America to be. This 
is one of the earliest maps on which the name America occurs. It will be seen that at 
that time it was confined to South America 

I do not see why we should not give this new continent 
the name of the man who has told us about it, and so call 
it America (see map above). 

In that way the name of our country appeared in print 
for the first time (1507). It looked strange then, and 
people had to learn to spell it and pronounce it, as they 
do a hard word now. But times have changed, and to-day 
everybody in the world, who pretends to know anything 



THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA 



13 



about the earth on which he Hves, knows this name, 
America, as far off as he can see it. 

14. Review. — About the year 1000, Leif Ericson, a 
Northman, discovered America. He called it Vinland. 
The Northmen did not stay in America, and the discov- 
ery did them no real good. 

Nearly five hundred years later, Christopher Columbus, 
an Italian, set out from Spain to find a short, direct way 
to the Indies by water. He crossed the Atlantic and 
discovered America in 1492. But he thought the land 
he had seen was part of Asia. He called it the West 
Indies, and named the inhabitants Indians. 

Five years later, John Cabot, another Italian, sailed 
from Bristol, England, and landed on the conthiejit of 
North America in 1497. He took possession of the 
country for the king of England. 

Last of all, Amerigo Vespucci, who was also an Italian, 
sailed from Spain and discovered the coast of Brazil. He 
published an account of what he had seen. For this 
reason the "■ New World " he had described got the name 
America (1507). 



II 



HOW THE SPANIARDS, THE FRENCH, AND THE ENGLISH 
EXPLORED AND SETTLED AMERICA (1507-1600) 

15. The Spaniards in North America ; Coronado and 
De Soto. — After the Spaniards had built forts in Cuba 
and in some other West India Islands, they discovered 
a part of the mainland. They were greatly pleased with 
it and gave it the name of Florida.^ 

Another party of Spaniards, led by Balboa,^ climbed 
the mountains of the Isthmus of Panama'^ and discovered 
the Pacific Ocean. 

In the meantime a Spanish army had conquered Mexico 
and taken possession of that country. Many years later, 
Coronado * set out from Mexico (i 540) to see what he could 
discover toward the northeast. He was the first Spaniard 
who saw the great canyon of the Colorado River, — a gash 
in the earth more than a mile deep in some places, and 
several hundred miles long. He met immense herds of 
buffalo on the plains of Kansas, but he went no farther east. 

If he had kept on until he reached the Mississippi River, 
he might have come upon another party of Spaniards, 

1 Florida : this is a Spanish word meaning flowery. It was given by 
the Spaniards because they discovered that country on Easter Sunday, 
which they call Flowery Easter. 3 Panama (pan-a-ma'). 

2 Balboa (bal-bo'a). * Coronado (ko-ro-na'Do). 

14 



THE SPANIARDS, FRENCH, AND ENGLISH 15 

led by De Soto.^ De Soto, like Coronado, was looking 
for gold mines. • He had started from Florida (1539) 
and had wandered for nearly two years in the woods and 
swamps on his way westward. He at last reached the 
banks of the Mississippi. No white man had ever before 
stood on the banks of that mighty river. There he died, 




Balboa discovering the Pacific Ocean 

and was buried at night in its muddy waters ; so it turned 
out that *'the most wonderful thing De Soto found was 
his own grave." 

The Spaniards did not try to build any settlements in the 
eastern part of America until 1565. The-n they attacked 
a party of Frenchmen who had come to Florida. They 
killed part of them and made slaves of the rest. In order 
to prevent any more Frenchmen from coming to Florida 
the Spaniards then built a fort on the coast and named it 

1 De Soto (da so'to). 



i6 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



St. Augustine.^ The town which grew up around that 
fort is the oldest in the United States, for it was begun 
about three hundred and fifty years ago. 

16. The English explore parts of the American coast ; 
what Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh did. — 
Many years after the Spaniards had constructed their 
fort at St. Augustine, Florida (§15), Sir Francis Drake, 
a famous English sea captain, sailed around the world. 




^-Tir 




'^i' 






De Soto discovers the Mississippi 



On his way he landed on the coast of California, not 
very far from where the city of San Francisco now 
stands. Then he sailed northward until he came to 
Oregon. There he landed again and set up a great post 
to which he nailed a brass plate with the name of Queen 
Elizabeth cut on it. In that way he took possession of 
the country for the queen of England (1579). But the 
English made no attempt to settle in that part of America, 
and they did not visit it again for many years. 

1 St. Augustine (sant a'gus-ten'). 



THE SPANIARDS, FRENCH, AND ENGLISH 17 



Not long after that, Sir Walter Raleigh,^ who was a 
great favorite with the queen, sent over a company of 
Englishmen to explore the eastern coast of America. 

They landed on Roanoke Island,^ off the coast of North 
Carolina (see map below). 

The Indians thought these strange visitors with white 
faces must have come down from the skies to see them. 
They made haste to treat them to the best dinner they 
could offer — and with plenty of deer meat and wild 
turkeys they were able to get up 
a pretty good one. 

When Raleigh's men went back 
to England, Queen Elizabeth was 
greatly pleased with their account 
of the country. She named it 
Virginia.^ She gave that name 
to a part of the coast more than a 
thousand miles long. It extended 
from North Carolina northward to 
beyond Halifax. From this you will see that Virginia 
then included not only the states of North Carolina and 
Virginia as we now know them, but the country which 
was afterward cut up into the states of Maryland, Penn- 
sylvania, New Jersey, New York, and those of New 
England, together with a part of Canada. 

17. Sir Walter tries to build up an English settlement in 
Virginia; who owned North America in the year 1600. — 
Sir Walter Raleigh tried hard to build up an English 
settlement on Roanoke Island (see map above), but the 

1 Raleigh (rawHi). 2 Roanoke (r5'a-n5k'). 

3 Because she called herself the virgm or maiden queen of England, 




l8 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

people that he sent there would not stay, so all his 
plans failed. 

But Sir Walter got two things from Virginia which he 
planted in his garden in Ireland — one was tobacco, the 
other was potatoes. The people of Great Britain knew 
nothing about either of these things until they were sent 
over from Virginia (1585). 

For a long time everybody was afraid to touch a potato 
for fear of getting poisoned. But now more potatoes are 
eaten than any other vegetable that grows. This excel- 
lent article of food is one of the many good things 
which America has given to the world. 

We have now come down nearly to the year 1600, or 
more than a hundred years since Columbus made his 
great voyage (§ 10). 

In all that long time the only people who had made 
any settlements in North America which were still stand- 
ing, were the Spaniards. But even they had none except 
a few in Mexico and one or two in Florida (§ 15). All 
the rest of the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific 
was a wilderness without a house in it ; with nothing, in 
fact, but some Indian wigwams. In 1600 the Spaniards 
were the only white men left in North America. They 
called the whole continent theirs, and they meant to keep 
every acre of it for themselves — if they could. We shall 
soon see whether they did or not. 

18. Review. — The Spaniards were the first white men 
to discover Florida and to take possession of Mexico. 
Coronado and De Soto wandered over the country be- 
tween Florida and Mexico in search of gold, and De Soto 
discovered the Mississippi River. 



THE SPANIARDS, FRENCH, AND ENGLISH 19 

In 1565 the Spaniards built St. Augustine, in Florida. 
It is the oldest town in the United States. 

The French tried to make settlements in North Amer- 
ica but failed. The English took possession of ^Oregon 
and of Virginia, but the settlements Sir Walter Raleigh 
endeavored to make in Virginia came to nothing. All 
that he got from them was some tobacco plants and 
some potatoes. 

In 1600 the Spaniards were the only white men left 
in all North America, and they declared that they meant 
to keep it for themselves. 



Ill 



THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS 

19. The Indians ; how they looked and how they lived. — 
Who were the strange people that Columbus saw when 
he first landed, and that he called Indians (§ lo)? No 



^^l.' 






li 




Indian Women building a Birch-Bark Wigwam 



white men had ever before seen any human beings just 
like them. They did not look like other people — for 
they had the color of an old piece of copper — and they 
spoke a different language. 



THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS 21 

Most of the Indians in the East lived in villages of 
small huts, called ** wigwams," which they made of the 
bark stripped from trees. In the West they had tents 
made of buffalo skins. In Arizona and New Mexico a 




An Indian House in Arizona 

different kind of Indians lived together in large houses 
built of rough stones, or bricks made of clay and dried 
in the sun. 

The Indians when Columbus found them had neither 
horses, cattle, nor sheep, for these useful animals were 
first brought to America by white men ; but all tribes of 
Indians had dogs, which they used in hunting. 

The Indians had no tools or weapons of iron or steel ; 
but they made knives and hatchets, of a clumsy kind, 
from pieces of sharp flint fastened to wooden handles. 
They used bows and arrows to shoot with, and no white 
man with his gun could beat them in firing at a mark 
or hunting for game. 



22 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



The Indian boys and girls never went to school, and 
never learned to read or write. But in their way they 
all had good educations ; they knew how to find their 
way through the woods, and they knew something useful 
about every tree, plant, and animal in the woods. For 

that reason an Indian 
boy could live in the 
forest, where a white 
boy would starve. 

Since they could 
not read, they of 
course had no books 
of any kind. But they 
could draw pictures on 
pieces of birch bark, 
and these pictures 
would often tell a 
story about as well as 
any of our books can. 
20. What the In- 
dian men and women 
did. — The Indians 
lived mainly by hunt- 
ing and fishing ; they 
also cultivated small pieces of land, on which they raised 
corn, beans, pumpkins, and tobacco. 

The men practically never did any work, but they did 
plenty of fighting, for the people of different tribes were 
almost constantly at war with each other. 

The women, or squaws, did the work. They built the 
birch-bark wigwams. They hoed the corn and tobacco 




Western Wigwam 



THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS 



23 



with clam-shell hoes. They got up early on cold winter 
mornings and kindled the fire by rubbing two dry sticks 
together until they burst into a blaze. That was some- 
thing which no white man knew how to do. Then the 
Indian women cooked the breakfast and washed up the 
earthenware pots in which they had cooked it, which they 
had made themselves from clay baked in the fire. After 




Indian Boys playing Ball 



that, they sat down and made suits of deerskin clothes 
for the little Indians, or they wove baskets out of grass, 
or made moccasins and snowshoes. 

When moving day came — and it came very often — 
the squaws were busier than ever. They started off 
through the woods carrying the furniture, if they had 
any, in their arms, and their babies on their backs, until 
they came to the place where they were to build their 



24 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



new wigwams. You see that the Indians did not waste 
much of their time ; the women found plenty to do at 
home, and the men found plenty to do away from home 
in killing other Indians. 

21. How the Indians traveled. — The Indians had no 
roads leading from place to place such as we have to-day. 
But they had narrow footpaths or trails. They made 

these trails by walking one 
behind the other, as you 
often see cattle do in a field. 
Some of these trails ex- 
tended through the woods 
in the East for hundreds of 
miles ; others extended in 
the same way across the 
great barren plains of Kan- 
iNDiAN Woman kindlingI Fire with sas and Utah. One famous 
Two Dry Sticks ^^-^11 in the East led from 

the Hudson River, where Albany now stands, to Buffalo 
on Lake Erie ; another led from Boston to the Connecticut 
River. In fact, the whole country was marked by these 
trails, some of which may still be seen in the far West. 

When the white settlers came, they widened these trails 
by cutting down the trees on each side. In that way they 
laid out the first roads. 

Later, when railways were built, they often followed these 
old Indian paths. The Boston and Albany Railroad, the 
New York Central, and much of the Union Pacific were 
constructed along the lines marked out by such trails. 

So to-day, when we are driving through the country 
from town to town, or flying across the states in express 




THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS 



25 



^^ r- 



trains, we are frequently following the footsteps of the 
Indians. Hundreds of years ago they walked in single 
file over the same ground, carrying their bows in their 
hands, ready for a fight. 

But the Indians had other ways of getting about. They 
went in their birch-bark canoes. The men made the 
canoes themselves — it was one of the few pieces of real 
work which they ever 

did. In these beauti- /. . _- '' ' ^ '. - ] 

fully constructed 
boats, which were as 
light as paper, the red 
men paddled their 
way through the 
country in all direc- 
tions. 

22. The number 
of Indians in North 
America ; how the In- 
dians and the White 
Men got on together. 
— The whole number 
of Indians in America 
was never very large. 
There were two rea- 
sons for this. One was because the different tribes were 
constantly at war, killing each other off. They enjoyed 
fighting as much as boys enjoy a game of football. 

The next reason why there were not many Indians was 
because even a few of them needed an immense country 
to hunt in. 




Indian Trail through the Woods 



26 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



A dozen white men could live on a small piece of 
land, for they would cultivate it and raise on it all the 
food they wanted. But a dozen Indians, who got most 
of their food by shooting deer or bears, could not live 
unless they had miles and miles of woods to roam over. 

This fact often made trouble between the white settlers 
and the red men. The farmers wanted to cut down the 




An Indian War Dance 

forests and plow up the land and plant -it. But the 
Indians did not want the forests cut down, because then 
they could not hunt game. 

It is true that the Indians themselves used to burn 
the trees and bushes on small patches of ground which 
they wanted for gardens. But when they did so they 
would move away after a short time and let all the trees 
grow up again. But the white men, when they cut down 
the trees, had no intention of letting them grow up again, 



THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS 27 

and on this account the Indians and the Whites would 
quarrel and go to war. Each thought the other was to blame. 

23. What the Indians taught the White Men. — But in 
some cases both races lived together as friends. Then 
the Indians taught the white men many things that were 
of the greatest use to them. They showed them how to 
plant corn and how to make it grow. We must remember 
that no white man had ever seen an ear of corn until be- 
came to America. The Indians first showed it to him. 

To-day the corn crop of the United States is the great- 
est food crop of the kind raised in America. It has 
helped to make us rich. We send away millions of 
bushels and sell them in other countries, besides using 
millions of bushels more at home. Then, in addition to 
this, we feed out millions of bushels to fatten pork which 
we eat ourselves or export to Europe to be eaten there. 

Well, we got our first lesson in raising corn from the 
Indians, who owned the land before we did. 

24. Review. — Columbus first gave the name Indians 
to the wild people that he saw in the West India Islands. 
They were a copper-colored race of people who at the 
East usually lived in villages of bark huts. They had 
no horses, cattle, or sheep, and no other animals except 
hunting dogs. 

They had no tools or weapons made of iron or steel. 
They got their living by hunting and fishing and raising 
small fields of corn. 

The men did all the fighting and the women did all the 
hard work. The men made trails across the country for 
roads, and they paddled their canoes on the streams and 
lakes in all directions. 



2S ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

The Indians were never very numerous ; their wars 
with each other and their habits of Hfe kept them from 
growing and filHng the country, as the white men do 
now. They sometimes quarreled with the white men 
about cutting down the forests, and these quarrels fre- 
quently ended in terrible wars. 

But the red men were often great friends to the white 
settlers. They first showed them how to cultivate Indian 
corn, which is to-day the greatest food crop of the kind 
raised in America. 



IV 



THE ENGLISH COME TO AMERICA TO STAY ; THEY 
SETTLE IN VIRGINIA IN 1607 

25. Why the English made up their minds to settle in 
Virginia. — We have seen (§ 17) that down to the year 
1600 the Spaniards were the only white men who suc- 
ceeded in holding possession of any part of North Amer- 
ica. They had made settlements in Mexico (§ 17) and 
in Florida (§ 15), but that was all. 

But now the time was speedily coming when the Eng- 
lish and the French would get part of the country. The 
French made a settlement at Quebec^ in Canada (1608). 
The English, as we shall presently see, went farther 
south and settled. 

Some one may ask, Why did the English, after they 
had once given up Virginia (§§ 16, 17), make up their 
minds to come back again and get possession of it and 
keep it.'^ 

The answer to that question is easy." In the first 
place, the king of Spain had made war on England. He 
had tried to conquer that country and had completely 
failed. The English now resolved to get even with the 
king of Spain by taking away as much of North America 
from him as they possibly could. 

1 Quebec (kwe-bek'). 
29 



20 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

In the next place there were, at this time, great numbers 
of poor people in England who could not find work. They 
were often in great distress ; some of them could hardly 
get bread enough to eat. It was thought that they would 
be glad to go to America, where they could soon cut down 
the forests and make themselves comfortable homes. 

26. Two English Companies undertake to send emigrants 
to America. — Two companies were now formed in Eng- 
land to send emigrants or colonists to Virginia (§§ i6, 17). 
One was called the London Company because it started 
in London ; the other was called the Plymouth Company 
because it was made up chiefly of men who lived in the city 
of Plymouth, on the southwest coast 0/ England. Both 
of these companies hoped to make money by building up 
English colonies or settlements in America. 

27. The London Company sends over the first English 
emigrants. — The London Company sent the first ship- 
load of emigrants. There were about a hundred of them. 
There were no women or children among them. 

The greater part of these emigrants were men who knew 
nothing about labor. They had never done a hard day's 
work in their lives. Many of them set out on the voyage 
as they would on a pleasure excursion. They expected 
to find mines of gold and silver in Virginia. Then, said 
they, when we have filled our bags with riches we will go 
back to England and live like lords. 

28. The English Colonists land in Virginia, 1607; Cap- 
tain John Smith. — The colonists reached the coast of 
Virginia in the spring of 1607. They landed on a small 
island. They began building a town there which they 
named Jamestown, in honor of James the First, who was 



ENGLISH COME TO AMERICA TO STAY 31 



then king of England (see map below). They built huts, 
made of branches of trees, to live in. But things did 
not go well with them. They were not used to such 
hot weather as they had in Virginia, and by September 
many of them had fallen sick and died. 

Luckily for the rest of them, one of the colonists was 
Captain John Smith.^ He was a young man who was 
rather fond of telling big stories of what he had seen or 
what he had done. But in spite of that fault he was just 
the kind of person to build up a new settlement in a 
strange land. He always seemed to know how to get 
himself out of trouble, and, at the 
same time, he knew how to get 
other people out of it. In Virginia, 
a man like that was worth far more 
than a gold mine. 

29. How Captain Smith's life was 
saved, and the colonists fed. — One 
day when Captain Smith, with a small party of men, was 
out exploring the country, the Indians suddenly attacked 
them. They killed several of the white men and carried 
off the captain prisoner. 

The chief of the tribe was Powhatan.^ He hated the 
English because he believed they meant to get the land 
away from the Indians. 

When he saw Captain Smith brought into his wigwam 
he made up his mind to knock his brains out. A big 
Indian stood all ready, with a club raised. As soon as 

1 See the Life of Captain John Smith in Montgomery's " Beginner's 
American History " in this series. 

2 Powhatan (pow-ha-tan'). 




32 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Powhatan gave the word he would strike the death 
blow. Just then Pocahontas,^ the chief's daughter, a 
girl of ten, ran up and begged her father to spare the 
white man's life. 

Powhatan could not refuse his darling child anything, 
so he told the captain he might go free. Smith returned 
in safety to Jamestown. Shortly afterward Pocahontas 
came with a number of Indians bringing a quantity of 
corn and deer meat as presents to the hungry colonists. 

30. Captain Smith is made governor ; he sets everybody 
to work. — After a time Captain Smith was chosen 
governor of the colony. He was determined that there 
should be no idle hands in Jamestown., He made a rule 
that those who. would not work should get nothing to 
eat. Some of the emigrants were very lazy, but rather 
than go without their dinners they began to bestir them- 
selves in earnest. 

Governor Smith set some to planting corn, and others 
to chopping down trees. He ordered the rest to saw the 
logs into boards to be sent to England and sold. Things 
now began to improve a little. Under Governor Smith's 
wise management the colonists were learning this great 
truth, — the only way a man can make anything in Amer- 
ica is, first of all, to find out how to make something use- 
ful of himself. 

31. Captain Smith goes back to England; the colonists 
become landowners, and begin to raise tobacco. — Not long 
after Captain Smith had made these changes for the better, 
he met with a bad accident. It compelled him to leave 
the colony and go back to England. 

1 Pocahontas (po-ka-hon'tas). 



ENGLISH COME TO AMERICA TO STAY 



33 



A new governor now came over to take charge of the 
Virginia colonists. He gave each one of them a piece of 
ground. When the men became landowners they at once 
set to work with a will, digging it, planting it, and raising 
corn. They were no longer inclined to be lazy, for now 
they saw something worth working for. 

But the time had come when the people of Jamestown 
were to begin raising something very different from corn. 




VI 



m 







':■■ w 



Slaves hauling Tobacco to the Wharf to send to England 

One of the colonists, named John Rolfe,i had married 
Pocahontas (§ 29). He built himself a log cabin and 
planted several acres of tobacco around it (§ 17). 

Before Rolfe began raising tobacco, the people of Vir- 
ginia had been puzzled to find anything they could send 
to England and sell. But they now discovered, to their 
great delight, that the English would buy all the tobacco 

1 Rolfe (rolf). 



34 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



they could get. This made the colonists willing to stay- 
in Virginia, for they could now carry on a good trade with 
the ''old country," as they called England. 

32 . More emigrants come to Virginia ; English girls come ; 
the tobacco plantations. — A good many emigrants now 
began to come to Virginia to start tobacco farms or plan- 
tations. Then some English girls thought that they would 
like to cross the sea and get homes in America on the 
plantations. 

When these girls landed at Jamestown the young men 
were there to meet the vessel. They stood ready to pay 
the captain for bringing the young women over. They 
had no money, so they paid the fare in tobacco which 
they had raised, and which was just as good as money* 

In this way the young farmers of Virginia got wives ; 
and the rough log houses on the river banks soon began 
to look very bright and cheerful. 

The tobacco plantations kept growing in number. 
Scores of vessels came over from England to carry the 
" weed " to London ; for by this time almost everybody 
there was smoking it. 

33. How slavery began in Virginia in 1619. — Up to 
this time the colonists in Virginia had always done their 
own work ; but now a great change took place. 

In the year 1619 a Dutch vessel arrived at Jamestown. 
She brought twenty negro slaves from Africa. The men 
who raised tobacco were glad to buy these black men and 
set them to work on their plantations. 

That was the way in which slavery began in our coun- 
try. People then saw no more harm in buying a negro 
than in buying a horse or an ox. Slavery spread little 



ENGLISH COME TO AMERICA TO STAY 35 

hy little. In time every colony in America, from New 
England to Georgia, owned black men. 

34. Many planters buy white laborers. — But many 
small tobacco planters could not afford to buy negroes. 
They now found that they could buy white laborers 
much cheaper. 

There were three kinds of these white laborers for sale. 
First, there were poor people in England who went to 
America and sold themselves, to work for a time, to any 
one who would pay their passage over. 

Next, there were rascals in London who made it a 
regular business to steal boys and girls — yes, they even 
seized and carried off full-grown men. They then sent 
them to America and sold them. 

Last of all, the judges in England would often send 
men and women to America who had committed some 
small offense. Perhaps they were barefooted and had 
taken a pair of shoes, or they were hungry and had taken 
a loaf of bread. Instead of putting these people in jail, 
as they would now, the judges would ship them over to 
America and sell them for seven years. 

Sooner or later, all of these white laborers became free. 
Some of them would then go to work, save their wages, buy 
a piece of land, and begin raising tobacco or wheat on it. 

35. The people of Virginia get the right to make their 
own laws in 1619. — The same year that the Dutch vessel 
brought the first negroes to Jamestown (§ 33), the gov- 
ernor of Virginia granted the colonists a great privilege. 

Before that time none of the settlers had the right to 
say what laws should be made to govern the colony. 
'The London Company (§§ 26, 27) used to tell the people 



36 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



in Virginia what they must do and the governor punished 
them if they disobeyed. 

But now all this was changed. The governor asked 
every town in Virginia to choose two men to meet him 
at Jamestown, to help him make the laws. There were 

then eleven towns in the 
colony. So they chose 
twenty-two persons to 
represent them. These 
twenty-two representa- 
tives met the governor 
in the little church at 
Jamestown. Together 
they now decided how 
the colony should be 
governed. 

The people never lost 
that precious privilege. 
For that reason Virginia 
got a large measure of 
liberty and kept it. 

To-day the people of 
the United States make 
all of their own laws. 
That is why they call themselves free men. Let us 
remember that this freedom began in the year 1619, in 
the little church at Jamestown, in the colony of Virginia. 
36. Review. — The first English colonists who came 
to America to stay, settled at Jamestown, Virginia, in 
1607. In the beginning, Captain John Smith did more 
for the colony than any one else. 




First Virginia Assembly 



ENGLISH COME TO AMERICA TO STAY 37 

The. first profitable crop the colonists raised was 
tobacco, which they sent to England and sold. In time, 
the raising of tobacco became the greatest industry in 
the colony. In order to carry it on, the planters bought 
negro slaves. In that way slavery began in America in 
the year 16 19. The planters also bought white laborers, 
but these laborers always got their freedom again in a 
few years. 

In 16 19 the people of Virginia gained the great priv- 
ilege of taking part with the governor in making the 
laws. This is one reason why the United States is a 
free country now ; that is, a country in which the people 
make the laws by which they are governed. 



THE SETTLEMENT OR COLONY OF NEW YORK 
(1614) 

37. Captain Henry Hudson discovers a great river. — 

Two years after the English emigrants landed at James- 
town, Virginia (§ 28), Henry Hudson, an English sea cap- 
tain, made a famous voyage. He was hired by a Dutch 
trading company in Holland or the United Netherlands. ^ 
They sent Captain Hudson to America to see if he could 
find a passage or opening through, by which he could sail 
to the Indies (§ 11). 

While he was searching for such a passage he entered 
the mouth of a noble river. After he had sailed up the 
stream about a hundred and fifty miles he found that the 

1 The Netherlands (neth'er-landz) or Lowlands. Holland (or the 
hollow or low land) was part of the Dutch states called the United 
Netherlands. 



38 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



water was not deep enough for him to go much farther. For 
this reason he turned about and sailed back to Europe. 

The Indians of that part of the country called the 
stream he had explored the ''River of the Mountains." 
They gave it that name because the lower part of it 
winds among hills, and later, flows past the cliffs of the 
"Palisades." But to-day we call that river the Hudson. 

38. The Dutch take possession of '<New Netherlands' ; 
they buy an island at the mouth of the Hudson. — A num- 
ber of years after- 
ward, the Dutch 
took possession of 
the country border- 
ing on the Hudson. 
They also took pos- 
session of the coun- 
try lying south of it 
as far as Delaware 
Bay (see ma p). 
They named the 
whole of this region 
New Netherland — 
which meant the 

same thing as New 
New Netherland -n ■,, 

Holland. 

Next, a Dutch trading company asked the Indians to 

sell them Manhattan ^ Island, near the mouth of the 

Hudson. The Indians had more land than they wanted, 

and they were glad to do this. They sold the island 

for a few yards of bright red cloth, some shining brass 

1 Manhattan (man-hat'an). 




ENGLISH COME TO AMERICA TO STAY 



39 



buttons, and some gay beads and pieces of ribbon, 
The red cloth and the buttons deHghted the hearts of 
the Indian warriors, while the beads and ribbons made 
the eyes of the squaws sparkle with joy. 

By this bargain the Dutch got Manhattan Island for 
less than twenty-five dollars. They named the settle- 
ment they had made there, New Amsterdam, from 
Amsterdam, the largest town in Holland (1626). 

The island of IVIanhattan is now covered by the central 
part of the great cit}' of New York, and the land has grown 
to be worth thousands of millions of dollars ! In fact, if a 
boy of ten should begin to count the sum at the rate of 
sixty dollars a minute, for eight hours a day, he would grow 
old and die before he had finished counting even a small 
fraction of it. 

39. The Dutch lay out great farms or estates on the 
banks of the Hudson. — The Dutch were a very indus- 
trious, money-making, and enterprising people. They 
sent their ships on voyages all over the globe. In New 
Netherland they bought furs from the Indians, which they 
sent to Europe to sell. In this way many of them became 
very rich. But they wanted to do more than this ; for 
they hoped to get a large number of their countrymen to 
come over from Holland and make homes in New Neth- 
erland, as the English were doing in Virginia (§32). 

For this reason they offered to give great pieces of 
land on the Hudson to any member of the company who 
would bring over fifty emigrants or more to settle on 
it. WTioever accepted this offer was to receive a title 
of honor; he was to be called a patroon^ or protector. 

1 Patroon (pa-troon'). 



40 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



(Here Alban' 
-"««ii% stands 





A Part of New 
Netherland 



A number of wealthy men came over 
from Holland. They brought emigrants 
with them to cultivate the land, and 
they took possession of vast estates on 
the river. 

One of these patroons was named 
Van Rensselaer.^ He got the larger 
part of what are now two counties near 
the city of Albany.^ Later, he added 
part of another county, so that in the 
end he owned a piece of land bigger 
than the whole state of Rhode Island. 

There he lived like a king. He liad 
no one to contradict his will, and he 
had hundreds of Dutch laborers work- 
ing on his great farms. 

40. The English take away New 
Netherland from the Dutch. — But the 
king of England had no intention of 
letting the Dutch stay quietly in New 
Netherland. He declared that John 
Cabot (§ 12) had taken possession of 
all that part of North America, and 
that it belonged by right to England. 

The Dutch governor of New Neth- 
erland was Peter Stuyvesant.^ He 
lived at New Amsterdam on Man- 
hattan Island (§38). He was honest, 

1 Van Rensselaer (van rens'se-ler). 

2 Albany (anDa-ni). 

8 Stuyvesant (sti've-sant). 



ENGLISH COME TO AMERICA TO STAY 41 

hot-tempered, and fearless. When he* was told that the 
English king meant to take the Dutch possessions in 
America he vowed that he would defend them with 
his Hfe. 

But on a hot August day (1664) several British war 
ships sailed into the harbor of New Amsterdam. The 
commander of the fleet came on deck and ordered his nien 
to aim their cannon at the little Dutch fort of the town. 
Then he sent word to Governor Stuyvesant telling him 
that the king of England had made a present of the 
whole of New Netherland (§ 38) to his brother, the Duke 
of York. 

"Pull down the Dutch flag at once," said he; "and 
send me the keys of the fort, or I will fire on you." 

Governor Stuyvesant was not at all frightened. He 
ordered his soldiers to get ready to fight the English, 
though the English had at least six times as many armed 
men as he had. But the Dutch women and children came 
crowding into the fort and begged him, with tears, not to 
provoke the British commander to destroy their homes. 

The brave old governor hesitated. He said to the 
women and children, " I had rather be carried to my grave 
than give up the fort, but you shall have your way." 

Then he gave the order to pull down the Dutch flag, 
which had waved there for nearly forty years. The Brit- 
ish soldiers came on shore and, entering the fort, ran up 
the blood-red banner of England in its place. 

From that time (1664) all of New Netherland on the 
Hudson was called New York, because now the Duke of 
York owned it. For the same reason, the town of New 
Amsterdam got the name of New York. 



42 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



THE SETTLEMENT OR COLONY OF NEW JERSEY 

(1617) 

41. The southern part of New Netherland becomes New 
Jersey. — The Duke of York did not care to keep the 
whole of New Netherland (§ 38) for himself. He was 
contented with the part now called New York (§ 40). 
He gave the southern part of New 
Netherland, which lay between the 
Hudson and the Delaware rivers 
to his friends, Lord Berkeley ^ and 
Sir George Cartaret^ (see map). 

Sir George had been governor of 
the English island of Jersey, which 
lies south of Great Britain, and he 
was a great favorite with the king. 
Out of compliment to him the Duke 
of York now gave the name New 
Jersey to this part of America. 

42. William Penn and some other 
Quakers buy New Jersey. — A num- 
ber of years later, some English Ouakers,^ one of whom 
was the famous William Penn,* bought New Jersey. The 
Quakers looked upon all men as brothers. They treated 
the Indians of New Jersey just as well as they would 
white people. 

The Indians could not read or write ; they were sav- 
ages ; but, although they were savages, they were not 

1 Berkeley (berkai). 2 Cartaret (kar'ter-et). 

3 Quakers ; see § 46, under Pennsylvania. 

* William Penn ; see § 45, under Pennsylvania. 




New Jersey : it was divided for 
a time into East Jersey and 
West Jersey 



ENGLISH COME TO AMERICA TO STAY 43 

fools. They knew when they were well treated, so they 
became firm friends of the Quakers. If they happened 
to find one of them lying asleep in the woods, they would 
say, "■ He is an Englishman ; he is asleep ; let him alone." 

43. How the Quakers governed their colony of New 
Jersey. — The Quakers seem to have done everything 
they could to make the emigrants who came to New 
Jersey contented and happy. They said to them, '*We 
place all power in the hands of the people. You shall 
make your own laws, and worship God in your own way." 
New Jersey got on well ; and it was said that not a single 
poor man could be found in the whole colony. 

After many years had passed, the owners of tlie coun- 
try thought it would be best to give it up to the king. 
He then appointed governors for it. William Franklin, 
son of Benjamin Franklin of Philadelphia, was the last 
royal governor of the colony of New Jersey. 

44. Review. — Captain Henry Hudson discovered the 
great river in America which is now called by his name. 
The Dutch took possession of all that part of the country 
as far south as the Delaware River, and gave it the name 
of New Netherland. 

They bought Manhattan Island, at the mouth of the 
Hudson, from the Indians, and built New Amsterdam 
on it. 

But the English declared that all of New Netherland 
belonged to them. They took it away from the Dutch 
and named the northern part of it New York ; New 
Amsterdam became New York City. 

That part of New Netherland which lay south of the 
Hudson River then got the name of New Jersey. It was 



44 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

sold to William Penn and some other Quakers. They 
gave the people who came there the power of making 
their own laws. 



THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA AND 
DELAWARE (1681) 

45. The king of England pays a debt to "William Penn. 

— The king of England owed William Penn ^ (§ 42) a 
large sum of money. Instead of paying the debt in cash, 
he gave Penn a great slice of the American wilderness west 
of New Jersey. The king named it Pennsylvania of Penn's 
Woods. It was a country nearly as large as England. 

His Majesty did not know that Pennsylvania contained 
immense mines of coal and iron, worth more money than 
he had ever seen in his life. If he had known it he might 
not have been so willing to give it away. 

46. Who the Quakers were and what they believed; 
why it was that William Penn wished to make a settle- 
ment in Pennsylvania. — We have seen that William Penn 
belonged to a kind of people who were called Quakers 
(§ 42). Now the Quakers were very different from most 
of the Enghsh of that day. 

In the first place they thought that it was wrong to fight. 
They wished to do away with war altogether, and to live 
in peace with every one. They refused to pay anything 
toward keeping up armies or war ships. 

Next, they thought that all persons should receive equal 
honor. They would not take off their hats to a judge in 

1 See the Life of William Penn in Montgomery's " Beginner's American 
History " in this series. 



ENGLISH COME TO AMERICA TO STAY 45 

court — no, they would not take them off to the king on 
his throne. 

Then again, they thought that no one should ever be 
forced to swear to the truth of what he said. They insisted 
that even in a court of justice a man's simple word should 
be considered just as good as the most solemn oath. 

Last of all, the Quakers held that no one should be 
compelled to go to any church against his will. They 
believed that all people ought to be left free to worship 
God in their own way. They said, *' Every man's heart 
tells him what is right." 

The greater part of the English did not understand 
what the Quakers were trying to do. They thought that 
they made a great deal of mischief. They said, " If these 
strange people had their way we should soon have no 
armies to fight for us, no courts of justice, no respect of 
persons, and no churches at all." On this account they 
often put the Quakers in jail, and sometimes whipped them 
most cruelly. 

William Penn was glad to come into possession of 
Pennsylvania, because he saw that he could make a great 
Quaker colony or settlement there. Then all those who 
believed as he did would have a place to go where no 
one would disturb them. 

47. Penn sends a colony to Pennsylvania ; how he took 
possession of the new country. — Penn* sent the first ship- 
load of emigrants to Pennsylvania (168 1), and the next 
year he came himself. • 

He landed at Newcastle on the Delaware River, a 
few miles below where Wilmington now stands (see map 
on page 46). Many years before, some emigrants from 



46 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



Sweden had settled in that part of the country and called 
it New Sweden. After a time this Delaware territory 
fell into the hands of the Dutch. Finally the Duke of 
York (§ 40) became owner of it. He sold it to Penn. 
Penn joined it to Pennsylvania, but, later, it became a 
separate colony. When the new owner arrived at New- 
castle in the territory of Delaware one of the Duke of 
York's officers gave up the land to him. 

First of all he presented Penn with the key of the fort 
at Newcastle. Next he handed him a sod dug from the 
ground. Last of al] he gave him 
a dish filled with water from the 
Delaware River. 

These things were done to show 
that William Penn had become 
master of the fort, the soil, and 
the river. That is to say, he was 
now master and owner of all the 
country which has since become 
the state of Delaware. 

48. Penn begins building a city 
in the woods (1682). — A few days 
later he went up the Delaware River into Pennsylvania 
(§ 45). He stopped at the place where he had resolved 
to begin the Quaker settlement (see map above). There 
the emigrants pulled off their coats and set to work cut- 
ting down trees and building log cabins (1682). 

Penn was tired of seeing the narrow, crooked streets of 
London, where he used to play when a boy. On this account 
he made up his mind to lay out the streets of his new Amer- 
ican town as straight as the rows on a checkerboard. 




ENGLISH COME TO AMERICA TO STAY 



47 



That was the way the largest and richest city in Penn- 
sylvania began. Penn gave it the Bible name of Phila- 
delphia, or the City of Brotherly Love.^ 

He hoped that the colonists would live peacefully and 
happily there. He believed that they would be good 
Quakers and would practice that golden rule which 




William Penn laying out the Streets of Philadelphi; 



commands all men to do unto others what they wish 
others to do unto them. 

49. Making laws for Pennsylvania ; Penn buys land of 
the Indians ; he makes a treaty or agreement with them. — 

The Quaker colonists at Penn's invitation met him, and 
together they agreed to make some excellent laws for the 
government of the new colony. 

The first law gave every man the right to worship God 
in the way he thought best. 

1 Philadelphia ; see Revelation iii. 7-S. 



48 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Another law ordered that schools should be opened for 
teaching every child to read and write. In these schools 
every boy was expected to learn some useful trade by 
which he could get his living. 

Although William Penn had received the territory of 
Pennsylvania from the king (§ 45), he believed that the 
Indians still owned the land. 

He would not take it away from them without paying 
for it. The Indians were perfectly willing to sell him 
all he wanted. He paid them in blankets, knives, and 
fishhooks, because the red men liked th^se better than 
money. 

Next, he called the Indians together under a great elm 
in Philadelphia and made a treaty or agreement with them. 
By that treaty the Quakers and the Indians promised to 
live as friends to each other as long as the sun should 
shine above them or the waters flow in the rivers. 

The red men could not write this treaty on paper, but 
they gave Penn a belt made of beads which told the whole 
story. The belt may still be seen in Philadelphia. ^ It 
shows an Englishman and an Indian standing side by side, 
holding each other by the hand like brothers. 

50. More emigrants come to Pennsylvania ; how America 
was built up. — In the course of time great numbers of 
emigrants went from Wales, the north of Ireland, and 
Germany to Pennsylvania. 

Many of these people had no money with which to pay 
their passage across the sea to America. In that case 
they would make a bargain with the captain of the vessel ; 

1 This famous treaty belt may be seen in the rooms of the Phila- 
delphia Historical Society. 



ENGLISH COME TO AMERICA TO STAY 49 

he would bring them over and sell them to farmers in 
Pennsylvania. Then they would work for these farmers 
several years until they had paid them what their passage 
had cost.^ They saved up all they could, and after a time 
they were generally able to buy farms for themselves. 

One of the best things about our country is that it was 
settled in the beginning by people who came from differ- 
ent parts of Europe. There were a great many English, 
but there were also Irish, Scotch, Welsh, Germans, Norwe- 
gians, Swedes, Dutch, and French. 

These people differed in many ways ; they did not look 
alike, they did not think alike, they did not at first speak 
alike. But though so different in these things, they all 
agreed about one thing. They loved liberty, and because 
they loved liberty, they learned to live together like one 
great family. 

To-day when the government of the United States 
wants to build a mighty battle ship — one which will stand 
hard knocks — it does not construct the vessel of plates of 
pure steel alone. Instead of that the builders take plates 
made of nickel and steel. 

The reason they do this is because steel, though very 
strong, is brittle, while nickel, though it is not strong, is 
very tough. By mixing the two metals the builders get 
plates which are far better and safer than either metal 
would make by itself. 

Well, something like that was done when America was 
first settled. Many people came from different lands. 
Each brought some good thing which the other did not 

1 This class of emigrants was called "redemptioners," because they 
redeemed or bought themselves back ; compare Virginia (§ 34). 



50 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

have. They worked together and built up a republic 
that is like a great battle ship. It is stronger, and better, 
and safer than any other country in the world. 

51. Review. — The king of England gave Pennsylvania 
to William Penn, an English Quaker, in payment of a 
debt he owed him. Penn bought what is now the state 
of Delaware and added it to Pennsylvania. 

He built the city of Philadelphia in order that English 
Quakers and all other emigrants who came to Pennsyl- 
vania might be free to worship God as they thought right. 

Later on, many Germans and other people settled in 
Pennsylvania. They all worked together to build up a 
strong, rich, and free colony. 

THE 'SETTL*EMENT OF NEW ENGLAND (1620) 

52. Massachusetts ; the coming of the Pilgrims in 1620. 

— The Quakers who came to Pennsylvania were not the 
only people who emigrated to America to be free to 
worship God (§ 46). 

Many years before Penn was born, a number of men 
and women left their pleasant homes in England and 
went to Holland (§ 37) to get the same freedom (see 
map on page 52). 

These people called themselves Pilgrims or Wanderers, 
The Dutch in Holland were very kind to them. They 
gave them the liberty they could not then get in England. 

But after some years had passed the Pilgrims resolved 
to leave Holland and go to America. There they hoped 
to build up a colony which would always remain English 
and would always speak English. 




Farewell to the Pilgrims 
51 



52 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



They went to England and sailed from Plymouth for 
America in the Mayflower in 1620. The Pilgrims num- 
bered one hundred and two persons. Twelve of them were 
children. They were the first English boys and girls who 

crossed the Atlan- 
tic and landed on 
the shores of the 
New World. 

53. The Pilgrims 
arrive at Cape Cod ; 
they land on Plym- 
outh Rock, 1620. 
— Toward the end 
of November the 




Mayflower came to anchor in Cape Cod Harbor at what 
is now Provincetown (see map on page 53). 

There the men signed a paper by which they bound 
themselves to maintain good government in the colony. 
Then they chose John Carver as their first governor. 

A month later they landed, December 21, 1620, on 
Plymouth Rock. It happens to be the only rock which 
can be found on that part of the Massachusetts coast for 
many miles. 

On Christmas Day the men went into the woods, cut 
down trees, and began to put up a log cabin. This was 
the first house built by white men on the shore of Massa- 
chusetts. In the course of a few months they built six 
more such cabins and called the town New Plymouth; 
but later the name got shortened to Plymouth. 

54. The first winter at Plymouth ; the Indian visitor ; 
Massasoit; the first Thanksgiving. — The winter was very 



ENGLISH COME TO AMERICA TO STAY 



53 



cold, and by the time the spring buds began to open, half 
of the Pilgrims were dead and in their graves. But when 
the Mayflower sailed for England in April, not one of the 
colonists went back in her. They had come here resolved 
to stay, and to make a 7iew England in America. 

One day when they were at work, an Indian ^ suddenly 
appeared. He walked boldly into the little log village and 
shouted, " Welcome, Englishmen ! " Then he went away, 
but soon came back with an Indian chief named Massasoit.^ 

Governor Carver (§ 53) made a treaty or agreement 
with Massasoit by which they promised to stand by each 
other as friends. That treaty was faithfully kept on both 
sides for more than fifty years. 

The Indians belonging to Massasoit' s tribe were very 
kind to the Pilgrims. They showed them how to plant 
corn (§ 23), and how to 



Cod 




shoot fish with bows and 
arrows. They also taught 
the white men how to dig 
clams on the beach, and 
how to catch eels by 
treading them out of the 
mud. If the Indians had 
not helped the colonists 
in these ways they might 
all have starved. 

When autumn came 
the corn was gathered. Then the little band of Pilgrims, 

1 The Indian's name was Samoset (sam'o-set) ; he had learned a few 
words of English from English sailors who had come to the coast of 
Maine. ^ Massasoit (mas'sa-soit'). 



54 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

with the Indians, sat. down to a great feast. They had 
deer meat, and fish, and wild turkeys. This was the first 
Thanksgiving kept in New England. Now, that day is kept 
all over the United States ; more than ninety millions of 
people on this continent sit down to the feast. 

55. Captain Myles Standish has a fight with some 
strange Indians ; town meeting. — A number of years after- 
ward, Massasoit (§ 54) told the colonists that another tribe 
of Indians were going to attack them. The strange 
Indians lived about twenty miles north of Plymouth. 
They had been badly treated by some Englishmen who 
had made a settlement on that part of the coast, and who 
stole corn from them. On this account they had resolved 
to kill off all white men wherever they could find them. 

Captain Myles Standishnvent from Plymouth to inquire 
into the matter. He was not much taller than a boy of 
sixteen. The Indians laughed at him because he was so 
small, and threatened to kill him. - 

But the captain was. too quick for them. He was the 
one who did the killing ; and he soon made the rest of 
the red men confess that a little man might be a great 
captain. 

After that, all went on peacefully for many years. The 
Pilgrims slowly increased in number, for more emigrants 
came over from England. They managed all their public 
business by coming together from time to time in town 
meeting. There they talked matters over — whether they 
should make a new road through the woods or build a 
new high fence around the town. Then each man voted 

1 See the Life of Captain Myles Standish in Montgomery's " Beginner's 
American History" in this series. 



ENGLISH COME TO AMERICA TO STAY 



55 



tTC'i^ '^■^■3 t_ ./ '-,-0- 



as he thought best, and that settled it. In that way they 
governed themselves without any king. 

These town meetings held in Plymouth were the first 
that were ever held in America. Later, all of the English 
settlements made in New England had such meetings, and 
they are still kept up. 

56. Massachusetts ; the Puritans build settlements at 
Salem; and Boston (1630). — Less than ten years after 
the Pilgrims landed 
on Plymouth Rock 
(§ 53), a number of 
English emigrants 
made a settlement in 
Massachusetts, or 
the " Land of the 
Blue Hills."! The 
emigrants named 
the town Salem, a 
word taken from the 
Bible and meaning 
peace 2 (see map on 
page 61). 

These new colo- 
nists left England for 
the reason that they 
did not like some 
things which were done in th 




The First Church built 
IN Boston in 1632 

English Church.^ They 



1 Massachusetts was the name the Indians gave to the Blue Hills just 
south of Boston, and to the neighboring country. 

2 Salem (sa'lem) ; see Hebrews vii. 2. 

3 The Puritans did not like part of the dress worn by the ministers of 
the Church of England in their religious services. They objected also 



56 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

got the name of Puritans because they said that the 
English Church ought to be purified^ or made to give 
up what they did not like. 

The next year (1630) Governor John Winthrop came 
over from England. He brought with him more than 
eight hundred emigrants, besides horses and cattle. This 
was the largest number of English people that had ever 
come to America at any one time. 

All of these people were Puritans. They began build- 
ing a town (1630) on the coast ^f Massachusetts Bay, 
not very far south of Salem. They named the town 
Boston, because many of them knew and loved the old 
city of Boston in England (see map on page 52). 

57. Plymouth Colony is joined to Massachusetts Colony ; 
the Puritans drive out the Quakers. — Later on, a great 
many more Puritans came to Massachusetts. After a 
time the colony of Plymouth {§ 53), or the "Old Colony," 
as it was now called, was joined to Massachusetts Colony. 

The Puritans were determined to keep Massachusetts 
to themselves. They did not intend to let other emi- 
grants, who thought differently, come and make homes 
in their colony. They said, There is plenty of room in 
America for everybody, so it would be foolish to crowd 
people together v/ho cannot agree. 

It was for this reason that they drove out some Quakers^ 
(§ 46) who came to Boston, and it was partly on this 

to their using a ring in performing the marriage service, and to the way 
in which they baptized children, because they said this dress and these 
ceremonies resembled those used by Catholic priests. 

1 Some of the Quakers felt it their duty to go into the Puritan meet- 
inghouses on Sunday and call out to the minister to come down from his 
pulpit and stop preaching. 



ENGLISH COME TO AMERICA TO STAY 



57 



account that they drove out Roger Williams, as we shall 
see when we come to the history of Rhode Island. 

58. Who could vote in Massachusetts Colony ; the public 
schools. — The Puritans would not allow any one living 
in Massachusetts to vote unless he belonged to their 
church. This was the way they thought they could get 
good men to make the laws. 

The Puritans were very anxious, too, that their children 
should not grow up in ignorance. They opened the first 
public Latin School in this country, in Boston (1635) ; and 
although they were poor they gave 
a large sum of money to build the 
first college — Harvard University 
in Cambridge (1636). Later (1647) 
they established the first regular 
common schools ever opened in 
America. 

59. New Hampshire; Settlements 
made in New Hampshire (1623) ; 
Maine and Vermont. — A few years 
after the Pilgrims arrived at Plym- 
outh (§ 53) two Englishmen 
obtained a very large tract of land north of Massachusetts. 
The land lay between the Merrimac and Kennebec rivers 
(see map above). Settlements were made there (1623- 
163 1 ). The largest town built was that of Portsmouth 
on the seacoast. The colonists bought furs of the 
Indians and caught codfish. They sent them to England 
to sell. 

After a short time the territory was divided into two 
parts. The eastern portion received the name of Maine, 




58 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

or the Mainland. The western portion was called New 
Hampshire because the owner of it came from the county 
of Hampshire in southern England. 

The largest settlement made in Maine (1632) was Port- 
land. Maine was joined to Massachusetts Colony (§ 56), 
but a great many years later (1820) it became a separate 
and independent state. 

The country lying west of New Hampshire, between 
that colony and New York, was called Vermont — a French 
name meaning the Green Mountains. The first settle- 
ment in it was made at Brattleboro^ (1724). After a long 
time Vermont became a separate state (1791). 

60. What was done at Londonderry, New Hampshire 

Nearly a hundred years after the first settlement was 
made in New Hampshire, a number of emigrants went 
there from the town of Londonderry in the north of Ire- 
land. They built a town to which they gave the same 
name. 

These newcomers planted fields of flax. Their wives 
spun the flax into thread with their little spinning wheels. 
Then they wove it into cloth in their hand looms. In 
this way the first linen was made in America. 

61. Connecticut ; how Connecticut was settled (1634). — 
In the meantime some English people had begun to make 
homes for themselves in the country south of Massachu- 
setts. That region was called by the Indian name of 
Connecticut,2.or the " Country of the Long River." 

One of the leaders of the emigrants who went a little 
later to Connecticut was the Rev. Thomas Hooker. He 
was a Puritan minister (§ 56) of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

1 Brattleboro (brat'l-bur-r6). 2 Connecticut (kon-netl-kut). 



ENGLISH COME TO AMERICA TO STAY 



59 



62. Thomas Hooker's journey through the woods. — 

He and the people belonging to his church wanted to 
find better grass for their cattle. But they, wanted still 
more to build a town where all of the inhabitants could 
vote and make such laws as they thought best, which, 
as we have seen, they could not do in Massachusetts (§ 58). 

One bright spring morning Mr. Hooker's company set 
out (1636) to find 
their way through ,^. 

the woods west- 
ward and south- 
ward to the Con- 
necticut River. 
They followed an 
Indian trail for a 
long distance (§21), 
and drove a herd of 
a hundred and sixty 
cattle through the 
forest. At length, 
after two weeks of 
travel on foot, they 
saw, through the 
branches of the 
trees, the waters of 
a broad and beautiful stream shining in the sunlight. 

It was the Connecticut River, and when tlie emigrants 
came to its banks they decided to stop there. They could 
not have done better. Soon afterward, they began to 
build on a spot which is now known as the city of Hart- 
ford (see map on page 60). 




Mr, Hooker's Journey through the Woods 



6o 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



63. More emigrants settle in the Connecticut Valley. — 
Soorr more emigrants went from Massachusetts to the 
Connecticut Valley. They built two more towns on the 
river, not far from Hartford. Later on, colonists came 

over from Eng- 
land and built 
New Haven on 
the coast of Long 
Island Sound. 

After many 
years had passed, 
the king of Eng- 
land decided to 




Cambridge jfS 
Q Roibury Du\ohe3ter ^(^-Cod 

Brookfield t^^ piymouth\ 

■ ?» 

f^t.Hope ^ ■ 




SCALE OF MILES 



join the New Haven Colony with the colony which had 
settled at Hartford and other points on the Connecticut 
River. In this way, what is now the state of Connecticut 
had its beginning. 

64. Rhode Island; Roger Williams is driven out of 
Massachusetts. — The Rev. Thomas Hooker (§§61,62) 
was not the only famous man who left Massachusetts to 
build up a new colony. Roger Williams, another Puri- 
tan minister (§ 56), did the same thing, but for a very 
different reason. We have seen that Mr. Hooker moved 
away from Massachusetts of his own accord ; but Roger 
Williams, a young man who lived in Salem (§ 56), was 
driven out. 

It happened in this way : Mr. Williams said that the 
Indians were the true owners of all the land in Mas- 
sachusetts, and that the king of England had no right 
whatever to give the country away to the white people 
who had taken possession of it. 



ENGLISH COME TO AMERICA TO STAY 



6i 



When Mr. Williams said this he stirred up a great 
deal of trouble and bad feeling. But this was not all, 
for presently Mr. Williams declared that the men who 
ruled Massachusetts did wrong in compelHng people to 
go to church. He insisted that every one should be 
free to go or not, as he thought right. 

Then the rulers of the colony decided that Mr. Williams 
was a dangerous man and that he must be sent back to 
England. 

65. Roger Williams goes to his friend Massasoit. — 
When the young Salem minister heard that, he left his 
home and fled to the woods. He made up his mind that 
it would not be safe for him to return to Salem again, so 
he resolved to go to his Indian friend Massasoit (§ 54) 
who lived on the shores of 



Narragansett Bay ^ (see 
map). 

It was winter, and Mr. 
Williams had to wade 
through deep snow. Day 
after day he kept on, mak- 
ing his way wearily through 
the lonely silence of the 
great forest. When night 
came he would cut down 
some pine boughs and make 
himself a kind of shelter to 
sleep in. The howling of the wolves would often keep 
him awake, but he was a brave man and he would not 
turn back. 

1 Narragansett (nar'a-gan'set). 




A 



\ 'f^M,^ 



Map showing Roger Williams's route from 
Salem to Mount Hope 



62 ELEMENTARY AMERIiiTAN HISTORY 

At length, after much suffering, he reached Massasoit^s 
smoky and dirty wigwam. The old chief was glad to see 
him. He took him into his hut and did the best he could 
to make him comfortable. 

66. Roger Williams begins building Providence (1636). 
— Roger Williams stayed there until spring. Then he 
said good-by to Massasoit, and started out to make a 
home of his own. 

When he came to a good place where there was a fine 
spring of water he bought»a piece of land from the Indians 
and built a log cabin. He called the place Providence 
because he believed that God's good providence had been 
his helper and guide. 

That settlement is now the capital of Rhode Island, 
and is the second largest and wealthiest city in New 
England. 

Roger Williams invited all people to come freely to 
Rhode Island and make homes there if they wished to 
stay. He was the first person in America who said that 
every one was entirely free to worship God in his own 
way. 

67. Review. — In 1620 the Pilgrims landed on Plym- 
outh Rock, Massachusetts, and began the first colony 
in New England. 

Ten years later (1630) a large number of Puritans came 
from England to Massachusetts and began to build the 
city of Boston. 

The Pilgrims and the Puritans both emigrated to 
America to get freedom. They wanted to enjoy the 
liberty of worshiping God in the way which they thought 
was right. 



ENGLISH COME TO AMERICA TO STAY 63 

After many years had passed, the colony of Plymouth, 
or the '' Old Colony," was joined to the larger and richer 
colony of Massachusetts. 

The colony of New Hampshire was begun by English- 
men who came here to fish and to buy furs from the 
Indians. The largest settlement was made at Ports- 
mouth. After a time, some emigrants settled at Lon- 
donderry and began to make linen there. 

South of Massachusetts, the chief settlements were 
begun by Mr. Hooker and others who went from Cam- 
bridge and other towns. They built Hartford on the 
Connecticut River. 

Later, another colony was begun by English emigrants, 
at New Haven. The two colonies were united later on, 
and in this way the state of Connecticut began. 

Roger Williams was driven out of Massachusetts. He 
fled to Narragansett Bay and made a settlement (1636) 
at a place which he named Providence, in Rhode Island. 

Rhode Island was the first colony begun in any part 
of America where entire religious freedom was given to 
all persons. 

THE FOUR REMAINING SOUTHERN COLONIES 

68. Maryland; the king of England gives Maryland 
to Lord Baltimore. — We have seen that three different 
kinds of people came to America because they wanted 
to get the right to worship God in their own way. They 
were first, the Pilgrims (§ 52); secondly, the Puritans 
(§ 56) ; and thirdly, the Quakers (§ 46). We shall now 
see that many Catholics came from England to America 
for the same reason. 



64 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



The English CathoUcs wished to be able to go to their 
own church, but they were denied that privilege. Some 
of them, on that account, resolved to cross the sea, and 
build homes and churches for themselves in the American 
wilderness. 

The king of England gave to his friend Lord Baltimore, 
who was a Catholic, a large piece of land cut off from 
northern Virginia. The king's wife, Queen "Mary,"^ was 




a Catholic, so, to please her, he 
named the new country Maryland. 
69. How Maryland was first 
settled (1634). — The first Catholic 
emigrants who went from England 
to Maryland (1634) landed near 
the mouth of the Potomac ^ River. 
They began to build a little settle- 
ment there which they called St. Mary's. 

The Indians liked them and gave them a wigwam in 
which to hold their religious meetings. This little hut 
made of bark was the first English Catholic church 
opened in America. 

Lord Baltimore invited Protestants,^ as well as Catholics, 
to go to Maryland. He gave them all the same rights be- 
cause he believed that they would live peaceably together. 
But later, many settlers moved into Maryland from 
Virginia and Massachusetts. Some of these newcomers 
tried to drive out the Catholics. This caused a great 
deal of trouble for many years. 

1 Marie, but the king called her Mary. 

2 Potomac (p6-t5'mak). 

8 Protestants: those who objected to the Catholic religion. 



ENGLISH COME TO AMERICA TO STAY 



65 



70. Raising tobacco and wheat ; the city of Baltimore. 

— The largest and most profitable crop raised in Maryland, 
like that in Virginia, was tobacco (§ 31). 

But after the city of Baltimore was begun (1729), a 
great many Germans came over to Maryland. They 
preferred to cultivate grain. They cut down the forests 



•^'^r 




^ ^^/"^ 




The Catholic Emigrants in Maryland 



and made themselves farms in the river valleys where 
there was excellent soil. There they soon began to raise 
great fields of wheat. 

From this time Baltimore became the largest shipping 
port in the colony of Maryland. Vessels went out from 
there in great numbers carrying cargoes of grain and 
tobacco to England. 

71. North and South Carolina ; new colonies formed 
south of Virginia (1663). — The time had now come when 
another slice of Virginia was cut off by the king of England 



66 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



(§68). King Charles the Second gave to eight of his 
friends (1663) a large territory taken from the southern 
part of the Atlantic coast. Out of compliment to that sov- 
ereign the owners of this tract of land named it Carolina.^ 
Some settlers' from Virginia had already moved into 
this part of the country. Later, a company of English 
emigrants made settlements farther south, on the coast. 
Ten years afterward they moved a short distance and 

began (1680) to build 
the city of Charleston 
(see map). 

Then a number of 
emigran t s from 
France came over and 
settled in Charleston. 
They were a people 
called Huguenots.2 
The king of France 
had driven them out 
because they did not 
^ agree with him in re- 
gard to religion. Some of their grandchildren became very 
famous men in the American Revolution. General Marion ^ 
of South Carolina was one, and, among the Huguenots 
who went north, Paul Revere * was another. 





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1 In Latin the king's name was Carolus, meaning Charles, so his 
friends who received the grant of land named it Carolina. 

2 Huguenots (hu'g^-nots) : they were French Protestants, and the king 
of France treated them so cruelly that great numbers of them fled to 
England and others came to America. 

3 Marion (mar'e-on). 

4 Revere (re-veer'). 



ENGLISH COME TO AMERICA TO STAY 6/ 

After a good many years had passed, it was thought 
best to divide the great colony of Carohna into two parts. 
The upper one was called North Carolina. Its largest 
town was Wilmington. The lower one was called South 
Carolina, and its largest town was Charleston. 

72. The chief products of North and South Carolina. — 
There was not much good farming land in North Carolina, 
but there were great pine forests. From these pine trees 
the colonists made tar, pitch, and turpentine. England 
was constantly building new vessels of various kinds and 
was glad to buy these products to use in her shipyards. 

In South Carolina the soil was better and the planters 
there employed their slaves (§ 33) in raising great quantities 
of rice. They exported much of this to Europe. 

Later, they began to raise indigo plants for dyeing cloth 
a deep blue color. The manufacturers of woolens in Eng- 
land were always ready to pay a good price for this dyestuff . 

73. The Settlement of Georgia (i733)- — Many years 
after Charleston, South Carolina, was settled (§ 71), Gen- 
eral James Oglethorpe ^ of England began a new colony 
in America. 

At that time a great number of poor people in London 
were kept in prison because they could not pay their debts. 
General Oglethorpe became much interested in their hard 
case and resolved to do what he could to help them and 
others like them. He believed that if they could be sent 
to America they would become farmers and do well. 

He persuaded King George the Second to give a large 
tract of land between South Carolina and Florida (§15) 

1 Oglethorpe (5'g'l-thorp) ; see the Life of General Oglethorpe in 
Montgomery's " Beginner's American History " in this series. 



68 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



to a company formed in England. That company under- 
took to send over poor people to settle on the land and 
cultivate it. In honor of the king, the new colony was 
named Georgia. The first emigrants who landed there 
built the town of Savannah^ on the Savannah River 

(1733). 

74. Making American silk. — General Oglethorpe knew 
that mulberry ^rees grew wild in Georgia, and he thought 
he saw a way by which they might be made profitable. 

He said to the colo- 
nists, If you take over 
silk worms to America 
they will feed on the 
mulberry leaves, 
which are their favor- 
ite food, and make 
silk. You will then 
be able to send it over 
to England and sell it 
for a good price. 

The new settlers 
eagerly tried this ex- 
periment. They produced a small quantity of the shining 
silk thread and sent it to London. The queen had a dress 
made of it which was greatly admired. She wore it on 
the king's birthday. It was the first American silk gown 
ever seen in the world. To-day thousands of dresses are 
made, in the United States, of American silk. In fact, 
more silk is now manufactured here than in any country 
in the world except France. 

1 Savannah (sa-van'a). 




,F L o R I D 



St.AuKustinel565 



ENGLISH COME TO AMERICA TO STAY 69 

But the people in Georgia soon found that they could 
not produce silk enough to get a living by it. They then 
began to buy furs from the Indians and send them to 
England ; others cut timber and shipped it to the West 
Indies, where there was always a great demand for it. 

75. Growth of Georgia; purchase of slaves ; fighting the 
Spaniards. — Besides English emigrants, a good many 
people from the south of Germany and some from the 
highlands of Scotland went to Georgia ; but the colony 
grew very slowly. The settlers thought that they should 
do far better if they had slaves to work for them. At 
length the company gave them permission to buy slaves. 
They then began to cultivate plantations and raise rice, 
Hke the people of South Carolina (§ 72). 

The colony of Georgia was the thirteenth Enghsh 
settlement; it was the last one made in America. 

Although it grew so slowly, it did good work. It kept 
the Spaniards of Florida (§15) from moving northward 
and making trouble. 

The Spaniards, as we have seen (§ 17), had once owned 
the whole of North America. But the English now held 
all of the Atlantic coast from Maine to Georgia, and they 
expected in time to get a great deal more of the country. 

76. Review. — Maryland was settled by Catholics who 
wanted to be free to worship God in the way they 
believed right. They opened the first English Catholic 
church in America. They gave to all settlers in Mary-^ 
land the same religious liberty which they asked for 
themselves. 

North and South Carolina were settled later. In North 
Carolina the colonists made large quantities of tar, pitch, 



^O ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

and turpentine, which they sent to England. In South 
CaroHna the planters raised rice and indigo. 

The first emigrants who came to Georgia, which was 
the last of the English colonies, were poor men who had 
not succeeded in getting a living in England. They tried 
to produce silk, but did not make enough of it to amount 
to much. Later, they bought slaves and became planters, 
like the people^of South Carolina. 

77. General Review of the Thirteen American Colonies. — 
Let us stop here at Georgia for a moment and look back. 
We see that more than a hundred and twenty-five years 
had passed since the English settled Jamestown, Virginia, 
in 1607 (§ 28). 

In the course of that long time w^e have seen four New 
England colonies established, — Massachusetts, New 
Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island ; also four 
middle colonies, — New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
and Delaware ; and five southern colonies, — Virginia, 
Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, 
or thirteen in all (see map on page 93). 

We may compare the history of these colonies to that 
of a grove of oak trees. If a boy should plant thirteen 
acorns they would come up very slowly — so very slowly 
that he might lose all patience ; for he would not live to 
see them get anything like their full growth. 

But he could comfort himself with the thought that the 
grove of oaks he had planted might stand for a thousand 
years. 

Well, so it was with the American colonies which were 
planted along the seacoast from the eastern borders of 
Maine to the southern boundary of Georgia. They came 



ENGLISH COME TO AMERICA TO STAY 71 

up little by little and gathered strength very slowly. 
That was because they were Hke the oaks — they were 
going to last. 

For that reason we believe that a thousand years from 
now, those thirteen colonies, which afterward became thir- 
teen free states and added more states to them, will not 
only be standing and growing, but that they will be far 
stronger and greater even than they are to-day. 



,A 



HOW THE FIRST SETTLERS LIVED IN AMERICA 

» 

78. Building the first houses. — The first thing the 
colonists had to do when they landed in the American 
wilderness was to get a roof over their heads. That was 
an easy thing, for they simply cut down trees and built 
log cabins of them. 

In order to make these cabins tight and warm they 
stuffed the cracks between the logs with mud. They 
made the floor of split logs, with the smooth side up. 
They used greased paper for windows, because that 
would let in some light and would keep out the cold. 

Then, at one end of the cabin, they built a great open 
fireplace of rough stones. They made the chimney in 
the same way, or, if stones were hard to get, they con- 
structed it of sticks and daubed them over with clay. 

In some cases the new settlers brought over a little 
furniture with them, but oftentimes they made most of 
it themselves. It did not take a man, with an ax, very 
long to manufacture a rough sort of table and a few 
three-legged stools. Then he hollowed out some blocks 
of wood for plates and dishes ^ ; and he made a very 

1 Such dishes were called trenchers, and the boys of Winchester 
School, the oldest public school in England, eat their bread and cheese 
from them to-day, just as they did when the first settlers landed in Virginia. 

72 



HOW THE FIRST SETTLERS LIVED 



73 



comfortable bed of a pile of sweet-smelling evergreen 
boughs or some dry leaves. 

79. Clearing the forest and planting corn. — After the 
emigrants got fairly settled in their snug log homes, they 
set out to plant corn. 

If they had time, they began by cutting down the 
trees over a good-sized piece of ground. But when that 







Building a Log Cabin 

would take too long, they girdled the trees, as they had 
seen the Indians do. That was soon done by cutting a 
deep gash through the bark around the trunk of each tree. 
The gash prevented the sap from going up into the 
branches, so that these trees did not leaf out in the spring. 
Then, as there was no shade cast by them, the sun shone 
down on the ground and ripened the corn which had been 
planted there. 



74 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

When the girdled and leafless trees became dead and 
dry, the colonists would burn them, and so make a large, 
open field. 

80. Life in a log cabin. — The people who lived in 
these rough homes, which they had made themselves with 
no tools but an ax, always had plenty to eat, and plenty 
too that was good. They did not have to go far to get 
food. The streams were full of trout and other fish, and 
the woods were full of deer and various kinds of game. 
Wild grapes grew in abundance in the forests, and the 
Indians showed the settlers how to make maple sugar. 

When the corn was large enough to eat, the colonists 
had green corn for dinner, or, by mixing beans with it, 
they made that excellent dish which the Indians called 
succotash. 

After the corn became dry and hard the farmers pounded 
it into meal, and it was made into mush for breakfast. 

All cooking was done at first over an open wood fire. 
They kindled a fire by striking sparks with a flint and 
steel. They caught these sparks, as they fell, on a piece 
of old rag, and then blew them to a blaze. That of 
course took time and patience, but time and patience 
were common in those days. If in a hurry, they sent 
a boy to borrow a panful of live coals from a neighbor. 
It was more than two hundred years after the Pilgrims 
landed in Massachusetts before any one ever scratched a 
match or lighted a fire with one. 

The first colonists who came to America did not bring 
any animals with them ; but those who came afterward 
brought horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs (§ 19). Besides 
these creatures, they brought over hens and chickens, and 



HOW THE FIRST SETTLERS LIVED 



75 



hives of honeybees. The Indians had never seen this 
kind of bee, and they called it the ''white man's fly." 

As soon as the farmers began to raise sheep their wives 
and daughters spun the wool into yarn and then wove it 
into cloth. But for a long time the men wore clothes 




made of deer- 
skin, as the In- 
dians did. Such 
clothing was 
very soft and 
t ough, and 
would last far 
longer than 
anything else. 

The children __ _ 
made birch S'^ZS^^^^- 
brooms for the 
kitchen, and 

whittled out wooden spoons for the table. In fact, give 
a Yankee boy a jackknife and he could cut his way 
through the world. 

81. Where the colonists built their first settlements. — 
All of the first settlers in America built their homes on 
the seashore or on the bank of some stream emptying 
into the sea. They did this so that vessels might come 
to them from England. 



Borrowing Fire from a Neighbor 



^6 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

In some parts of the country, especially in New Eng- 
land, the colonists built their houses close to each other 
and so formed little villages. In other cases, especially 
in the South, they lived on farms or plantations quite a 
long distance apart. 

S}, How the colonists got from place to place. — When 
the people wished to go from one place to another through 
the woods they followed the Indian trails (§§ 21, 62). 
In the course of time they made these trails wide enough 
for a horse to walk in ; still later, they widened them so 
that they could get carts and wagons through them. 

When they wanted to go from one colony to another, 
— for instance, from New York to Philadelphia, — they 
traveled, when they could, by small sailing vessels. 

After a good many years had passed, the colonists began 
to make journeys in a rough kind of stagecoach. It 
usually went at about three miles an hour. Now we can 
easily go as far in thirty minutes by express train as Ben- 
jamin Franklin or George Washington could go in a day 
over the bad roads which then existed. But then they 
had this great advantage — the world seemed much larger 
to them than it does to us, when we get over the ground 
so quickly. 

83. Public schools ; what the colonists had to read. — 
The people in the northern colonies soon established 
public schools for their children, where they could learn 
to read and write ; but at the South the children of the 
poor generally grew up without being able to do either. 
Washington was taught his letters by the man who took 
care of the little church near by, and Thomas Jefferson 
went to a school kept on a tobacco plantation. The 



HOW THE FIRST SETTLERS LIVED 



77 



colonists generally had very few books beside the Bible ; 
but those they did have they read over and over until they 
knew them by heart. 

The first printing press in the country was set up at 
Cambridge, Massachusetts (1638), not very long after the 
first house was built in Boston (§ 56). But it was more 



■•d^^i 




■^^ 




Z^^ 



Where Thomas Jefferson went to School 



than sixty years after that before the first American news- 
paper 1 was published — and that was not published very 
often. 

But although people then did not spend much time in 
reading the news, they found out how to do three good 
things. First of all, they learned to use their eyes, and to 
see for themselves ; next, they learned to use their hands, 
and to work for themselves ; last of all, they learned to use 
their brains, and to think for themselves. 

1 This was the Boston News Letter^ which appeared in 1 704. 



78 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



For these reasons the colonists were soon able to do 
more in a year in America than most of the people in 
the <'old country" could do in ten. 

They kept good order too, and made things very uncom- 
fortable for wrongdoers. They put tramps and drunk- 
ards in the stocks; they made thieves stand in the pillory ;i 




Stocks and Pillory 



they flogged greater rascals ; and they made haste to hang 
all those that they thought were too bad to let live. 

84. How the colonists got on in the world. — By far the 
greater part of the emigrants who came to America were 
poor men. Ninety-nine out of a hundred brought over 
nothing more than the clothes they stood up in. But 
they did not stay poor. By keeping their eyes open, their 

1 Pillory (pil'lo-ry). 



HOW THE FIRST SETTLERS LIVED 79 

hands constantly at work, and their brains busy, they cov- 
ered the country with farms and plantations. They had 
broad fields of grain and tobacco, and great herds of cattle 
and flocks of sheep. 

On the seacoast, where there were good ports, the towns 
grew larger and richer, and gave promise that some day 
they would become great cities. If you look on the map 
of the United States on page opposite page 305, you 
will see that they have kept their promise. 

85. How the rich lived. — As time went on, a good 
many of the tobacco planters of Virginia and Maryland 
grew rich. So, too, did the merchants and shipowners of 
New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, Charleston, 
and Savannah. 

These wealthy men often built fine large houses, some 
of which are still standing — and noble old mansions 
they are. Those who built them bought handsome fur- 
niture and silverware in England, to make their homes 
here beautiful, and they dressed in grand style, in silk 
and velvet. 

Their houses often had beautiful gardens, which were 
fenced in by neatly trimmed hedges such as you can 
see at Mount Vernon now. 

These rich people kept stables filled with horses. 
They also kept negro slaves to work on the land, and to 
wait on them in their elegant homes. 

Sometimes one or two of these faithful house servants 
would be buried near their masters and mistresses. In 
the old churchyard at Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the 
carved gravestone of a great lady who once lived in one 
of the houses we have been describing. A New England 



8o ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

poet who lived in that house, which is still preserved, in 
speaking of that gravestone says, — 

At her feet and at her head 
Lies a slave to attend the dead, 
But their dust is white as hers.^ 
« 

There was one thing, however, that all the people in 
America, whether rich or poor, agreed in perfectly, — that 
was that they loved their country. 

Most of them, indeed, loved it so much that, when the 
time came, they showed that they were ready to fight for 
it and to die for it. 

1 Longfellow, " In the Churchyard at Cambridge." 



VI 



WARS WITH THE INDIANS 

86. The colonists and the red men. — The white people 
who came to America generally tried to treat the Indians 
fairly. We have already seen that the Dutch bought 
Manhattan Island from the Indians (§ 38), and that Wil- 
liam Penn bought from them the land on which he built 
Philadelphia (§ 49). 

So too in New England, and in the other colonies, the 
settlers usually bought the land from the red men, as 
Roger Williams did when he began to build Providence 
(§ 66)- 

It is true that the white men did not give much for the 
land, oftentimes only a few dozen hatchets and one or two 
bundles of red blankets. But we should remember that 
these things might be worth more to the Indians than 
four or five hundred acres of forest would be. They 
were generally quite as glad to make the trade as the 
Enghsh were, so both sides felt satisfied. 

On the other hand, there were times when it was 
very difficult for the colonists and the Indians to under- 
stand each other. This sometimes led to quarrels and to 
fighting. 

Then again there were greedy white men who cheated 
the Indians when they traded with them for their furs. 

81 



82 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

There were others who would steal corn from them (§ 55), 
or who would get them drunk and then manage to rob 
them of their lands. 

These things were always certain to make trouble, and 
in the end they might cause war. 

«87. Indian war in Virginia , the Pequot War in Connect- 
icut. — The first war of this kind broke out in Virginia 
(1622). At that time the Indians came suddenly upon the 
colonists in the night, and killed a great many of them. 

The first emigrants who went to Connecticut (§ 62) 
suffered greatly from a tribe of Indians in that country. 
The new settlers had hardly got their log houses built 
when" the Pequots,^ who were the fiercest savages in that 
part of New England, attacked them (1637). They seem 
to have thought that the white men had come from Mas- 
sachusetts to take their lands from them. 

The people of Hartford (§ 62), and the towns near it, 
loaded their guns and marched against the Indians. At 
the same time, the colonists of Boston sent men to help 
the Connecticut settlers. The white men then sur- 
rounded the Pequot fort ^ in the night and set fire to it. 

Many of the Indians were burned to death ; others 
were shot as they rushed wildly out of the flames. In 
the end nearly the whole Pequot tribe was killed. After 
that the Connecticut people had very little trouble with 
the Indians. In fact all the colonists in New England 
were free from attack for nearly forty years. 

88. *< King Philip^s »' War (1675). — Then the most ter- 
rible of all Indian wars broke out. It began in southern 

1 Pequot (pelcwot). 

2 This fort was near Mystic, on Long Island Sound, Connecticut. 



WARS WITH THE INDIANS 



83 



Massachusetts. It came about in this way : When the 
good chief Massasoit (§§ 54, 65) died, he left a son who 
called himself *'King Philip." He was a very differ- 
ent man from his father, for he did not like the white 
people. 

He saw that they were constantly getting large slices 
of the Indian land, and that the time seemed to be coming 
when the red men would no longer have any homes in 
Massachusetts. 

He believed that all 
the Indians must band 
together and fight, or 
else be driven from the 
country. So he went 
about from tribe to 
tribe and persuaded 
the chiefs to join him 
in an attack on the 
English. 

''King Philip" lived 
very near Mount " ^'^^ Philip's" War 

Hope on Narragansett Bay, in Rhode Island (see map). 
He made his plans to have the war begin in that neigh- 
borhood. 

Everything was done secretly. Not one of the farmers 
in that part of the country suspected for a moment that 
the Indians were getting ready to fall upon them. That 
was the red man's way of fighting. He had learned it 
in the woods, from the panther or wild cat, which creeps 
up silently behind its victim, springs upon it like a flash, 
and strikes its terrible claws deep into the flesh. 




84 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

One Sunday afternoon (1675) two white men who lived 
near Swansea,^ Massachusetts (see map on page 83), were 
walking quietly home from church when they were shot 
dead by some Indians who had hidden themselves in the 
bushes. This was the commencement of "King Philip's'* 
War. 

89. The war spreads ; << King Philip ** is killed. — Then 
<' King Philip's " warriors rushed upon the villages farther 
east in Plymouth Colony. Next they attacked those in 
western Massachusetts, in the valley of the Connecticut 
River. 

The Indians burned twelve towns to ashes, and partly 
burned a great many more.^ At one time they became 
so bold that they ventured to come almost in sight of 
Boston. 

Altogether, this was the most dreadful Indian war 
which the colonists had ever been engaged in. It con- 
tinued to rage for more than a year. In that time some- 
thing like a thousand white men were killed, their homes 
were destroyed and their wives and children carried off 
prisoners by the savages. 

But at last Captain Benjamin Church, of Plymouth, 
hunted "King Philip" down, just as fox hunters in Eng- 
land run down a fox. The captain took the chief's wife 
and little boy captive. Both of them were sent to the 
Bermuda Islands and sold as slaves. There they were 
probably worked to death or whipped to death on one 
of the English plantations. 

^ Swansea (swon'se). 

2 Among these villages were Deerfield, Brookfield, Springfield, Lan- 
caster, Groton, and Hadley. 



WARS WITH THE INDIANS 85 

*' King Philip " himself was not yet taken, but he lost 
all heart, and no longer cared whether he lived or died. 
Not long afterward he was shot; then his head was cut 
off and carried to Plymouth and set up in the village on 
a high pole. , 

''King Philip's " death brought the war to an end. It 
had cost so much that it left many of the farmers very 
poor. In Plymouth Colony the people labored for years 




"King Philip's" War 

to earn money to pay off the war debt. But they were 
not the kind of men to complain. They kept steadily at 
work, until, in the course of time, they paid every cent 
of it. 

90. Pontiac makes war on the English colonists (1763). 
— Long after ''King Philip's" death (§ 89), Pontiac,^ a 
western Indian chief, attacked the colonists (1763). He 
called himself the ruler of all the tribes in the Michigan 

1 Pontiac (p6n'ti-ak). 



86 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Country. He was fond of the French people who lived 
in Canada, but he hated the Enghsh, and, most of all, the 
English soldiers. 

Pontiac called the western savages together and made 
a speech to them. " Come, now," said he; "let us load 
our guns, sharpen our hatchets, and kill off all these dogs 
dressed in red." The savages obeyed him. They began by 
burning farmhouses and murdering the inhabitants. Then 
they attacked Detroit,^ and pushed their way on as far east 
as Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. But they never got any farther, 
for the white men, after hard fighting, defeated them and 
made them lay down their guns and beg for peace. 

91. The Indians return the white children they had 
carried off. — The western Indians had, at different times, 
stolen many white children and carried them off to their 
wigwams in the woods. After Pontiac was beaten (§ 90) 
and peace was made, the red men brought back these 
captives and restored them to their parents. 

But some of the white boys and girls had grown to be 
so fond of Indian life that they did not want to give it 
up. Others had been away so long that they had for- 
gotten all about their parents and their old homes. 

One joyful mother recovered her daughter, who had 
been carried away by the savages when she was very 
young. The girl did not know her, and hardly remem- 
bered an English word. The poor woman was in great 
distress. But the English general in command, who was 
standing by, thought that he could help her. He said, 
" Sing to your daughter the old song which you used to< 
sing to her when she was a little child." 
- Detroit (de-troif). 




Mother recovering her Daughter 
87 



SB ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

The mother began to sing; her daughter listened 
attentively for a few moments, then she burst into tears 
and rushed into her arms. At last mother and child 
had found each other. 

92. Review. — The Enghsh colonists who settled. 
America had a number of fierce wars with the Indians. 
The first one was in Virginia. The next was in Connect- 
icut, when the Pequot Indians attacked the people living 
on the Connecticut River. 

But the most terrible Indian war broke out in Massa- 
chusetts when *'King Philip" rose and tried to kill off 
the people of that colony. 

Many years later, Pontiac, a western chief, attacked 
Detroit and carried the war as far east as Pittsburg, 
Pennsylvania, In every one of these wars the Indians 
were finally defeated and forced to make peace. 



VII 



WHAT THE FRENCH DID IN THE WEST 

93. The French and the Indians in Canada. — We must 
now leave the English colonists for a short time and see 
what the French were doing in Canada and the West. 

You remember that shortly after the English began to 
build Jamestown, Virginia (1607), some Frenchmen went 
up the St. Lawrence River and erected the first houses 
(1608) at Quebec (§ 25). 

Part of the Frenchmen who then went to Canada were 
fur traders. They came to America to buy beaver skins 
from the Indians and send them back to France to sell. 

But a number of Frenchmen who went to Canada 
were Catholic priests. They did not cross the sea to 
make money or to get land. They came because they 
wished to do all in their power to help the Indians. 

Some of these priests pushed on westward until they 
reached the northern shore of Lake Huron ^ (see map on 
page 93). There they built a little cabin of birch bark, 
and settled down to make themselves at home among the 
red men. 

The Indians of that part of the country soon became 
very fond of the priests, or Black Gowns, as they called 
them. They liked to visit the little cabin and see the 

1 Huron (hu'ron). 
89 



90 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Strange things it contained. What astonished them most of 
all was a clock which the priests had brought from France. 

They called it the Captain, for to them the clock seemed 
alive. The Indians would sit patiently on the ground and 
wait, silent and motionless, to hear the clock strike. They 
said, '' When the Captain strikes twelve, he says, ' Put 
the kettle on for dinner'; and when he strikes four, he 
says to us Indians, * Now get up and go home.' " 

The Black Gowns and the Canadian red men lived in 
this way, as friends, for some time. Then the savage 
tribes of New York ^ made war upon them and broke up 
the little settlement. But they were not able to drive the 
French out of Canada. 

94. The French set out to find a great river. — Year by 
year the French priests and the fur traders kept going 
farther and farther west. As they went they would make 
small settlements at different points. When they had 
got as far as Mackinaw ^ (see map on page 93), they 
heard of a great river. The Indians there told them that 
it was far beyond them, in the direction of the setting sun, 
and that it would take many days to get to it. They called 
the great river the Mississippi, or " Father of Waters." 

Two young Frenchmen, one a fur trader ^ and the other 
a priest, set out to find the famous river. They thought, 
from what they heard about it, that perhaps it flowed into 
the Pacific Ocean, and so might open a way for them to 
get to China. 

1 These were the Iroquois (Tr'5-k\voi') Indians, or "Five Nations"; 
they hated the Canadian Indians, and frequently made war upon them 
and upon the French. 2 Mackinaw (mak'i-na). 

3 The fur trader was named Joliet (jo'le-et), and the priest w^as Father 
Marquette (mar-ket'). 



WHAT THE FRENCH DID IN THE WEST 



91 



They started in their birch-bark canoes and paddled 
across Lake Michigan to Green Bay, Wisconsin. Then 
they went up the Fox River as far as they could and 
pulled their canoes on shore. Next they picked them 
up, for they were as light as paper, and carried them 
across to the Wisconsin River, which was a very short 
distance away (see map on page 93). 
They floated down the Wisconsin 
until one warm summer day (1673) 
they came out into a river which 
was nearly two miles wide. Then 
they felt sure that 
they must now 
be on the Missis- 
sippi itself. 

95. What the 
two Frenchmen 
saw on the great 
river. — They 
resolved to drift 
downward with 
the current and 




JoLiET AND Father Marquette on the Mississippi 



see where it would 



take them. Day after day they moved noiselessly onward 
toward the south. They passed miles and miles of level, 
grass-grown prairie land ; they passed more miles still of 
great forests. They listened to the cry of strange birds 
in the woods, and at night they heard the howling of packs 
of wolves. Now and then they caught sight of a few 
Indians on the banks of the river, or saw herds of deer 
and of buffalo come down to the water to drink. 



92 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Keeping on and on, they came, after nearly three 
weeks, to the place where the Spaniard, De Soto, was 
buried (§ 15). Still drifting down the stream they at 
length reached the mouth of the Arkansas^ River. 
There they stopped, for some friendly Indians told them 
it would not be safe for them to go farther, because the 
savages south of them were very fierce and hated strangers. 

By this time the Frenchmen had made up their minds 
that the Mississippi did not empty into the Pacific Ocean. 
Then they decided to turn back and make their way to 
Lake Michigan and on to Canada. 

They carried great news to their friends in Canada ; for 
they were the first white men who had ever made a voyage 
from the north down the *' Father of Waters." 

96. La Salle goes down the Mississippi to its mouth ; 
he takes possession of the Louisiana Country. — A number 
of years later a Frenchman named La Salle ^ determined 
to complete the work his two countrymen had begun. 

He built a little sailing vessel on Niagara River, a short 
distance above the Falls. It was the first vessel of the 
kind which ever floated on the waters of Lake Erie, or 
on any of the Great Lakes west of it. 

Then he sailed to Green Bay, Wisconsin (§ 94). There 
he left his vessel to load up with furs while he, with his 
companions, went in canoes to the southern end of Lake 
Michigan (see map on page 93). They landed there and 
crossed over on foot to a branch of the Illinois River. 
Then La Salle and his men launched their canoes again, 
and paddled down to the Mississippi. 

1 Arkansas (arlcan-sa'). 

2 La Salle (la saf). 







The Thirteen English Colonies, with Part of Louisiana and the 
French Explorations and Settlements in the West 



94 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



It was winter time, and the great river was full of 
cakes of floating ice ; but La Salle was a man who loved 
danger, and he kept bravely on. 

At last, on a sunny day in April (1682), he smelt the 
salt air of the sea. Looking ahead he caught sight of the 
^^'. - ' ^ tossing waves of 

the Gulf of Mexico. 
There he landed 
with his men, and 
they set up strong 
posts to which they 
fastened the name 
of Louis the Four- 
teenth, who was 
then king of France. 
In his name. La 
Salle took posses- 
sion of the entire 
valley through 
which the Missis- 
sippi flows, together 
with all the rivers 
on the east and on 
In honor of King Louis, 




La Salle sets up Posts 



the west which empty into it 
he called the country Louisiana. 

Many years later, the French began to build two cities 
on the Gulf of Mexico, — one was Mobile (1702) on the 
Alabama River, the other was the great city of New 
Orleans (17 18) on the Mississippi. 

If you look on the map on page 95 you will see 
what an immense territory Louisiana was then, and how 




S^'k 



CARIBBEAN 
SE A 



SOUTH 
AMERICA 



The Louisiana Country claimed by La Salle for France 



95 



96 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



much larger it was than the state of Louisiana is now. 
In length that territory extended from one end of the 
Mississippi to the other ; while in breadth it reached 
from the Alleghany Mountains clear across to the Rocky 
Mountains. 

When the French took possession of it, that whole 
region was simply a great V-shaped wilderness, about two 
thousand miles long from north to south, 
and more than fifteen hundred miles 
wide from east to west. Tribes of 
savage Indians and herds of buffalo 
roamed over the greater part of it. 
There was not a town — no, not 
even a farmhouse — anywhere in [ 
it. To-day that territory is cov- , 
ered by twenty great 




American states.^ 
are bound to- 
gether by a net- 
work of railways 
which run 
through hun- 
dreds of cities 
and towns, and 
across thousands 

and thousands of farms. In that country, where at that 
time the only white men were a few French fur traders 



La Salle taking Posses 
siON OF THE Missis- 
sippi Valley 



1 The twenty states are Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky, 
Tennessee, West Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Minnesota, 
Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, 
Nebraska, Kansas, and Montana, besides a great part of Wyoming, Col- 
orado, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. 



WHAT THE FRENCH DID IN THE WEST 97 

and priests, more than forty millions of Americans now 
have their homes. 

97. Review. — The French in Canada pushed their way 
toward the west, and in time discovered the Mississippi 
River. 

A number of years afterward, La Salle went down that 
river to its mouth. He named the whole Mississippi 
Valley Louisiana, in honor of Louis the Fourteenth, who 
was 1;hen king of France, and he took possession of it 
all for that king. 



VIII 

THE ENGLISH COLONISTS IN AMERICA FIGHT THE 
FRENCH AND THE INDIANS 

98. The first French and Indian War (1689). — The 

English colonists on the Atlantic coast soon heard that 
La Salle had taken possession of Louisiana for the king 
of France (§ 96). They saw then that they must either 
fight the French or give up to them all of America west 
of the Alleghany Mountains. 

While they were making preparations for war, a band 
of Indian warriors came down from Canada into New 
York. They got nearly as far south as Albany,^ and 
burned the little village of Schenectady ^ (see map on 
page 99). At about the same time French Canadians 
and bands of savages made their way through the woods 
and destroyed several English settlements in Maine and 
New Hampshire. 

99. How a woman got away from the Indians. — Later, 
the Canadian Indians grew so bold that they attacked 
Haverhill,^ Massachusetts, a town not very far north of 
Boston (see map on page 99). They killed a number of 
people, and carried off Mrs. Hannah Dustin, intending 
to sell her as a slave in Canada. 

1 Albany (arba-ni). 3 Haverhill (ha'ver-il). 

2 Schenectady (ske-nek'ta-de), 

^98 



THE COLONISTS FIGHT THE FRENCH 



99 



But Mrs. Diistin was a brave woman, and she resolved 
to escape from her captors. After the savages had gone 
to sleep at night, she got up very softly and managed to 
take their hatchets from them without waking them. 
Then, with the help of another white woman and of a 




boy, who had been carried away prisoners with her, she 
split the heads of the sleeping Indians and got safely 
back to her home again. 

100. The second and third French and Indian wars 
(i 702-1713 ; 1 744-1 748) ; the Yankees take Louisburg. — 
In the course of the next war, the Canadian French and 
Indians attacked Deerfield, in northwestern Massachu- 
setts, and burned it. But, on the other hand, the New 
England colonists beat the French in northeastern Can- 
ada or Acadia,^ and took a part of the country from 
them. The king of England then gave it the name of 
Nova Scotia 2 (see map above). 

1 Acadia (a-ka'di-a). 

2 Nova Scotia (no'va sko'shi-a) ; the name means New Scotland. 



lOO ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

In the third war with the French, ColoneP William 
PepperrelP of Maine did a most remarkable thing. He 
set out with a few thousand Yankee farmers and fisher- 
men to attack the great stone fort at Louisburg, on Cape 
Breton^ Island (see map on page 99). 

This was the strongest fort which the French possessed 
on the coast of America. They had spent twenty-five 
years in building it. They felt so proud of it that they 
named it Louisburg, in honor of Louis the • Fourteenth, 
king of France, and they dared the English colonists to 
march against it and try to take it. 

Well, the Yankees, with the help of some British war 
ships, did take it. The king of England was delighted 
when he heard the news. In fact, his joy was so great 
over the astonishing victory that he gave Colonel Pepper- 
rell the right to put the English title of Sir* before his 
name. 

He was the first New England man who had received 
such an honor. Everybody was glad he got it, and the 
people always took off their hats and bowed very low 
whenever they met Sir William Pepperrell, the hero of 
Louisburg. 

101. The fourth and last great French and Indian War 
(1754-1763). — But the French had no thought yet of 
giving up the fight. They meant to own all America, 
and to drive out the Enghsh, if they could. So they 
built forts at New Orleans and at other places on the 
Mississippi River. Not satisfied with doing that, they 

1 Colonel (kur'nel). 2 Pepperrell (pep'er-il). ^ Breton (bret'on). 
* Sir: this is a title given in England to a person who ranks next to a 
nobleman. 




French Forts at the East 



I02 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

commenced building several more in that part of the 
country west of the Alleghany Mountains where the Ohio 
River begins (see map on page loi). 

102. The governor of Virginia sends a messenger to the 

French (1753) These new forts were built on land 

which then belonged to Virginia. The governor of that 
colony sent a young man to tell the French that they 
must give up the forts and leave that part of the country. 

The young man's name was George Washington.^ He 
had learned how to measure land.^ He was fond of life 
in the woods, and he was fond too of adventure, especially 
when there was a spice of danger in it. 

He was glad to go on the governor's errand. He 
dressed himself in deerskin clothes, such as the Indians 
wore, and set off on his journey of five hundred miles 
on foot through the great forest (see map on page loi). 

When he arrived at the fort where the commander of 
the French had his headquarters, he was well received. 
But that officer told Washington that he should not pay 
any attention to the governor's request. 

The next year (1754) the governor of Virginia sent 
Washington with a company of soldiers to drive out the 
French. But the enemy had the most men, so they 
forced the Virginians to turn back. 

103. The French and the Indians defeat General Brad- 
dock (1755). — A year later (1755) General Braddock, a 



1 See the Life of Washington in Montgomery's " Beginner's American 
History " in this series. 

2 Washington was born February 22, 1732; he was now twenty-one. 
He was an excellent surveyor, and surveyed thousands of acres of land 
in Virginia (see map on page loi). 




Washington surveying Land in Virginia 



I04 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

brave English officer, started to see what he could do. He 
led a fine army of British soldiers against Fort Duquesne,i 
which the French had built on the Ohio River (see Fort 4 
on map, page 10 1). Washington, with some Virginia men, 
went with General Braddock, who knew nothing about fight- 
ing battles in the American woods. 

Washington told the English general that the French 
and Indians would hide in the forest and would fire at his 
men from behind the trees. Braddock laughed at the 
warning and began his march. The British soldiers made 
a grand show, with their bright red coats and still brighter 
bayonets glistening in the rays of the morning sun, as 
they moved along through the woods. 

Everything went well with them until they had come 
almost to the fort, when a shower of bullets burst out from 
the underbrush. No one could see who fired them. The 
British did not know which way to turn or which way to 
aim their guns. In a short time the greater part of 
Braddock's splendid army was cut to pieces. 

General Braddock himself was fatally shot. He died a 
few days afterwards, and was buried at night under a pile 
of dead leaves in the midst of the wilderness. Washington 
had four bullets go through his coat, but he escaped unhurt. 

104. Fort Duquesne taken at last ; it gets a new name 
(1758). — The French were full of glee over their victory. 
They boasted that they would wipe the English name 
from the map of America and would call the whole country 
New France. 

But William Pitt, who was a great man in England, 
now got the management of the war. He did not fight 

1 Fort Duquesne (dii'-kdn'). 



THE COLONISTS FIGHT THE FRENCH 



105 



himself, but he knew how to pick out men who could 
fight. They soon made the French sing a different song. 
Pitt sent over a new British army to take Fort Duquesne 
(§ 103). When the enemy heard that they were coming, 
they gave up their stronghold and fled. The English 
then set to work and built a new fort at the same point 
and named it Fort Pitt, in honor of William Pitt. Part 





A Part of Fort Pitt ; it is still standing 



of that fort is still standing. Around it grew up the city 
of Pittsburg — one of the greatest places in the world for 
making iron and steel. 

105. General Wolfe climbs the heights at Quebec (1759). 
— The next move which William Pitt made was to send 
a British army under General Wolfe ^ to take the French 

1 Wolfe (w^olf). 



io6 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



city of Quebec/ the cap- 
ital of Canada (§ 93). 
That seemed almost 
impossible, for Quebec 
stands on a high, rocky 
bluff overlooking the St. 
Lawrence River, and a 
few soldiers could hold 
the place against attack 
(see map on page 99). 

General Montcalm,^ 
the French commander 
at Quebec, was on the 
lookout for the Enghsh. 
He slept in his clothes 
for weeks, so that 
he might always be 
ready to fight. 

For a long time 
General Wolfe tried 
in vain to capture 

1 Quebec (kwe-bek'). 

2 Montcalm (m6N''kalm'). 




The English climbing the Heights at Quebec 



THE COLONISTS FIGHT THE FRENCH 107 

Quebec. At last he made up his mind that the only way 
he could do it would be to climb up from the river to 
the top of the heights. 

At that time his fleet of war ships was some miles 
above the city. One night Wolfe and his men embarked 
in boats and silently floated down the St. Lawrence. 
When they came to a little cove in the bank, about three 
miles above Quebec, they stopped. There they landed, 
taking care to make as little noise as possible. Then, 
one by one, the soldiers, seizing hold of the bushes and 
the branches of the trees, climbed slowly up to the top 
of the steep bluff. 

When the sun rose, General Montcalm could hardly 
believe what he saw. There, drawn up in a thin, red line, 
stood the British army before Quebec. 

106. The battle of Quebec (1759). — Soon a terrible 
battle began. The English fought to get into the city; 
the French fought to keep them out. 

General Wolfe was shot through the breast. As he 
lay dying on the ground, he heard some of his men shout, 
"They run; see how they run!" "Who run.'*" asked 
Wolfe in a feeble voice. ''The French," was the answer. 
"Then," said Wolfe, "I die in peace." These were his 
last words. 

General Montcalm also received his death wound. He 
asked the doctor who stood by him, " How long have I 
to live ? " " Not many hours," replied the doctor. " So 
much the better," said Montcalm; "for I am happy not 
to live to see the surrender of Quebec." 

Not very long after the death of these two brave com- 
manders, the French opened the gates of Quebec to the 



io8 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



English. They marched in, and took possession of the 

city. They have held it ever since. 

107. The end of the great war between England and 

France, 1763. — The fall of Quebec (§ 106) marked the 

end of the great vi^ar in America between the English 

and the French. It had been going on, as we have seen, 

for many years (§ 98). ^ 

The children in America who heard the first gun fired in 

that contest (1689) were all white-haired men and women 

now. But they 
shouted with joy 
when the news 
came that at last 
the English flag 
had been raised 
over the French 
fort at Quebec 

(1759). 

Peace was made 
in 1763. France 
was forced to give 
to England all of 
Canada and the 
country west of the Alleghany Mountains as far as the 
Mississippi River. 

The king of France would have been compelled to 
give up all the rest of the Louisiana Country (§ 96) to 
England if he had then owned it. But it so happened 
that, before the great war was over, he had secretly given 

1 The war began in 16S9, and continued, with intervals of peace, for 
over seventy years. 




North America after the Treaty of 1763 



THE COLONISTS FIGHT THE FRENCH 



109 



New Orleans, with the French territory beyond the Mis- 
sissippi as far as the Rocky Mountains, to Spain. 

On the other hand, Spain had given Florida (§§ 15, 17) 
to England. That meant that England had now got pos- 
session of the whole of North America except the part 
which the Spanish king held, that is. New Orleans on 
the Mississippi River and the country lying between that 
river and the Pacific Ocean. 

By looking on the map on page 108, you can see at 
once that France had lost everything. You will also see 
just how much England had gained, and how much Spain 
still possessed. 

108. Review. — After La Salle had taken possession 
of the Louisiana Country for King Louis the Fourteenth 
of France, war broke out in America between France 
and England. The object of the war was to decide which 
nation should become owner of a very large part of 
America. 

In the course of this war the Canadian Indians, who 
were friends of the French, destroyed many English 
settlements in New York and New England. 

On the other hand, the American colonists, with some 
help from England, took possession of Nova Scotia and 
captured the great French fort at Louisburg. 

Later, General Braddock, an English commander, tried 
to take Fort Duquesne, a French stronghold on the 
Ohio River; but he was badly defeated by the French 
and Indians. 

The English afterward got possession of the place 
and built Fort Pitt there. The city of Pittsburg grew 
up around that fort. 



no 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



The next year (1759) General Wolfe captured the great 
French stronghold of Quebec, the capital of Canada. 

In 1763 France made a treaty of p*eace with England. 
By that treaty or agreement England came into posses- 
sion of all the territory which France then owned in 
North America. 

By looking on the map on page 108 you will see that 
the whole of North America was now divided between 
Englaixi and Spain. 

England held Canada and the remainder of the coun- 
try south of it, except New Orleans, as far west as the 
Mississippi River. Spain held New Orleans and all the 
country west of the Mississippi. France no longer had 
a foot of land left on the entire continent. 







_jt)at tC^e ^att».i[Ca>xina ox any H)( 



td 6oUi U)vtf7in U)c daib ^- 



T§& 






The Colonial Charter of Massachusetts (seepage 111) 

This shows a part of the opening lines of the original charter of 1629. It is written on 

four very large sheets of parchment, beautifully ornamented in gold and colors. It 

has the king's portrait on the left, and his great seal at the end of the charter. 

The charter is kept in the State House in Boston 



IX 

HOW THE KING OF ENGLAND RULED AMERICA 

109. The king^s charters and what those charters prom- 
ised. — When the first English colonists went to America 
to live, the king of England gave them the land on which 
they settled. 

He always made the gift in writing. That writing was 
called a charter} The charter told the colonists, first of 
all, how large a piece of land they could have. It might 
be as big as Virginia or Pennsylvania, or it might be as 
small as Rhode Island, which was the smallest territory 
he ever gave. 

Next, the charter told the settlers what they could do 
on the land they had received. 

One thing should be particularly remembered. It is 
this : every charter promised that the English who came 
to America should have the same rights that the people 
had in England. That promise meant that those who 
crossed the Atlantic to build up homes in the wilderness 
were not to lose anything by going to a new country. 
This was only fair, for they had hard and dangerous work. 

1 Charter : this word, at first, meant simply a piece of paper or parch- 
ment (§iio) ; later, it came to mean the king's gift of land, — or of some- 
thing else, — because he wrote his promise on such a piece of paper or 
parchment. 



112 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

The colonists locked up these precious charters with 
the greatest possible care, and as they had good memories 
they never forgot what they read in them. 

For that reason they said, We have the right to take 
part in making the laws by which we are governed, because 
in England the people do that. We brought that power 
here. We have the king's word for it ; it is in these charters 
which bear his name and are stamped with his great seal. 

You will recollect that in Virginia the people soon 
began to help make the laws (§35). So they did, in the 
end, in every one of the thirteen American colonies. That 
right they never gave up; in fact, the king never really 
tried to make them give it up. 

110. Governor Andros and the Connecticut Charter. — 
After a time, the king took back most of the charters. 
But in one case, when he tried to do it, he failed. He 
sent over Sir Edmund Andros^ to be governor of New 
England, New York, and New Jersey (i686). He told 
the new governor to get the charter of the colony of Con- 
necticut. The governor went to Hartford and ordered 
the people to give up their charter. But they had no 
intention of doing anything of the kind. 

However, one evening when Sir Edmund met the chief 
men of Hartford, he let them know in a very decided way 
that he must ha\e what the king had commanded him 
to get. 

At length the charter was brought in and handed to 
the governor. After looking at it he laid it down for 
a moment on the table. Suddenly all the candles were 
blown out. When they were lighted again, the precious 

1 Andros (an'dros). 



HOW THE KING RULED AMERICA 



113 



piece of parchment ^ was nowhere to be found. Captain 
Wadsworth, a Hartford man, had secretly carried it off. 
He hid it, so it is said, in a hollow oak, which after that 
was always called the Charter Oak. The spot where the 
tree stood is now marked by a marble tablet. 

111. What happened to Governor Andros. — Governor 
Andros made Boston his home, and the people there hated 




Hiding the Charter 

him with all their hearts, because he was a hard man to 
get on with. One day a ship came in, bringing the news 
that England had another king — one who would not be 
friendly to the governor. Then the people of Boston rose 
with a shout, seized Andros, and locked him up so that he 
might not do any more mischief. 

1 Parchment is made of sheepskin and is much tougher than paper. The 
charters were written on it, because they would be less easily destroyed. 



114 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

After a while he was sent back to England ; he never 
came back to Boston again. 

112. The English laws about American trade. — Gener- 
ally speaking, the American colonists enjoyed a great deal 
of liberty, yet in many ways they could not do as they 
liked. This was the case with some things they wanted 
to send abroad to sell, or to make to use for themselves 
at home. 

For instance, the planters at the South wanted very 
much to send a good deal of their tobacco to the conti- 
nent of Europe to sell, but they were forbidden to do it. 
The king's laws said that the planters must send their 
tobacco to England and sell it there and nowhere else.^ 

Next, the people of Pennsylvania had immense mines 
of iron, but the king's laws permitted them to make only 
a very little of it into anything they could use. If a farmer 
needed an ax to cut his wood with, or some nails to mend 
a barn door with, or if his wife wanted a pot to boil pota- 
toes in, the ax, the nails, and the pot generally had to be 
bought in England and brought across the sea. 

Again, the American colonists had a great many sheep, 
but here again the king's laws hindered them from making 
any fine cloth from the wool. If a man in New York 
wanted a nice black coat to wear on Sundays, or if his 
wife wanted a handsome dress, they had to purchase cloth 
which came from England. 

This was one side of a picture that the colonists did 
not like to look at. But there was another side to that 
picture which they always looked at very gladly. Let us 
now take a look at the pleasant side. 

1 This was by the English Navigation Laws. 



HOW THE KING RULED AMERICA 115 

In the first place, the king's laws ordered the people of 
England to buy all their tobacco from the Virginia and 
Maryland planters. If they asked permission to buy some 
from Spain or France, they got No for an answer. 

In the next place, the English makers could sell their 
axes, pots, and nails, and their fine woolen cloth at a low 
price. The colonists at that time could not have made 
and sold them so cheap, if they had tried their best. 

Last of all, the king bought timber, tar, pitch, and tur- 
pentine here to build Enghsh ships. He not only paid 
the full price which the colonists asked, but he paid 
somewhat more.^ He did that in order to encourage the 
people here to produce all they could of such things. 

Perhaps, then, if we look at both sides of the picture 
we shall think that, on the whole, the people in Amer- 
ica were not very badly treated — at least, not up to this 
time. 

Benjamin Franklin was a true American, and he was a 
good judge of such things. He said that the colonists 
were so contented then that the king of England could 
lead them "by a thread." 

Now, if you have a young, high-spirited horse that you 
can lead by a thread, you know it must be because he is 
willing to follow you. 

113. Review. — The king's charters, or written prom- 
ises, gave the American colonists the same rights here 
that Englishmen had in England. 

In Virginia, and in all other colonies, the people took 
part in making the laws passed here, by which they 
were governed. 

1 That is, he paid a bounty to the producers. 



Il6 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

After a time the king took away most of the charters 
he had given, but the people still kept the right to take 
part in making the American laws. 

But the colonists could not buy and sell where they liked. 
They could not sell their tobacco where they pleased, for 
if they sent it abroad they had to sell it in England. 
They had to buy all their ironware and their fine woolen 
cloth in England. 

But on the other hand the English people had to buy 
all their tobacco of the colonists. Then again, the Eng- 
lish manufacturers sold their goods to the people here 
cheaper than they could then have made such goods them- 
selves. Last of all, the king paid the colonists a very 
high price for a number of things which he bought here 
to use in building English ships. 

Benjamin Franklin, who was a true American, said that 
up to this time the colonists generally were contented 
and happy. 



X 



THE AMERICAN COLONISTS QUARREL WITH THE KING ; 
THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 

114. George the Third becomes King of England; the 
colonists quarrel with him. — After George the Third 
became king of England (1760) the American colonists 
began to resist being led (§112). Benjamin Franklin 
said that they changed entirely in their feeling toward 
the king. They were no longer contented. They now 
felt as a horse does when you hitch him to a load which 
is heavier than he can pull. 

The reason for this great change of feeling was this : 
George the Third ordered the colonists to give him money 
which they felt he had no right to demand from them. 

The king had resolved to send ten thousand British 
soldiers over to America to prevent the Canadian French 
from beginning a new war (§ loi). 

To get money to pay these soldiers he made up his 
mind to tax the colonists, and to tax them, too, against 
their will. 

Now, in England, it had long been clearly understood 
that the king could not do anything of this kind. There 
it was settled, once for all, that he could not take so much 
as a single penny from the people unless they gave their 
consent to it. 

117 



Il8 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

The Americans said, When we came here to settle 
we received charters (§ 109) which promised us that we 
should always have the same rights that Englishmen 
have in England. Now, they do not have to pay taxes 
unless they vote to pay them; neither will we. 

George the Third was a man who meant to do what 
was fair and right. But he was a very obstinate man, 
and he sometimes made bad mistakes. He did so in this 
case, for he replied, I must have this tax, and if you 
refuse to give me the money I shall take it by force. 

That was the way the great quarrel between the people 
of America and the king began. 

115. The tax called the Stamp Act (1765). — Soon after 
this dispute the king got the English Parliament ^ in 
London to pass a law called the Stamp Act. 

That law commanded the American colonists to buy 
English stamps — something like the postage stamps ^ 
we have now — and to use these for many things. 

If, for instance, a man wanted to purchase a piece of 
land for a farm or to build a house on, he had to pay for 
a stamp on the deed or paper which made the land his. 

It was the same with many other things both great and 
small. The intention was to make everybody purchase 

^ Parliament is a body of men who represent the people of England, 
Scotland, and Ireland. They meet in London, in the Houses of Parlia- 
ment, and make laws, just as Congress meets in Washington and makes 
laws for the government of the United States. Before the American 
Revolution, or War of Independence, the English Parliament claimed 
the right of making laws for governing the American colonies. 

2 Some of these stamps could be fastened on the paper while others 
were impressed or printed on it, just as our positage stamps are some- 
limes printed or impressed on envelopes. 



THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 



119 



some of these stamps. Even if any one bought" only a 
newspaper or an almanac he had to pay something addi- 
tional for the stamp on it. He might not have to spend 
more than a cent for the stamp, or he might have to 
spend fifty dollars for it — it all depended on the value 
of what he bought. 

From the very first, the American colonists positively 
refused to buy any of these stamps. When they were 
sent over from England, the people 
seized them and tore them up or made 
bonfires of them in the streets. 

But they did not stop there, for 
they said. We will not pay this tax 
or any other tax unless we can help 
make the tax laws. The king denied 
them that right, so the quarrel went 
on. At length the king found that it 
was useless to send any more stamps 
to America, and then the Stamp Act was given up (1766). 

116. The king tries a new tax ; what the people did 
about it. — But the next year (1767) George the Third 
decided to try a different plan for getting money from 
the colonists against their will. 

The people of this country then bought all their win- 
dow glass, their paint, their wall paper, and their tea from 
merchants in England. 

The Parliament, or Congress (§ 115), in London, now 
made a law which ordered the American colonists to pay 
a tax on these things when they bought them at the shops 
here. The king signed the law, just as he had signed the 
Stamp Act. 




British Stamp 



I20 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

But the Americans said, Rather than pay this new tax 
we will do without glass, paper, paint, or tea. Samuel 
Adams of Boston went further still. He said, Let us all 
agree to eat nothing, drink nothing, and wear nothing 
which England sends here to sell, so long as the king 
demands this money from us. Thousands of people 
throughout the country took that pledge and kept it. 

117. What happened to some shiploads of tea (1773) — 
Finally George the Third thought it would be best to drop 
all of the new taxes except that on tea. He said that 
must stand. It was a very small tax, only six cents on a 
pound, and the king believed that the Americans would 
pay that rather than have any more dispute. 

That was where he made a great mistake, for the colo- 
nists would no more drink that taxed tea than they would 
drink so much poison. 

One morning (1773) an English ship loaded with the 
stuff sailed into Boston harbor; and two other vessels, 
loaded in the same way, came in a little later. 

The people refused to let the captains land any of the 
tea. A number of days afterward a party of men dis- 
guised themselves as Indians and went down to the ships 
at night. They took out all the chests of tea, broke them 
open, and emptied their contents into the harbor. 

In the other colonies the people felt as they did in 
Massachusetts. In New York, in Pennsylvania, in Mary- 
land, and in South Carolina they either forced the tea 
ships to go back or in some way they destroyed the tea. 

118. The king punishes Boston (1774). — When George 
the Third heard what the people of Boston had done 
he resolved to punish the rebellious town. He ordered 



THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 121 

General Gage, the English commander in Boston, to close 
the port. After that was done no vessels could go out 
or come in. This, of course, put a stop to a great deal of 
trade, and it threw many persons out of work. In a short 
time the poor began to suffer. 

But the people would not beg the king's pardon ; and 
they refused to pay a cent for the tea which they had 
dumped into the harbor. 

The people of the other colonies, both north and south, 
sent provisions by land to Boston, to keep the citizens 
from starving. That showed very clearly that the Ameri- 
cans everywhere were of one mind, and that they were 
determined to stand by each other. 

119. The great meeting at Philadelphia, 1774; the 
fight at Lexington and Concord, 1775. — The people of 
the colonies now chose a number of their wisest and best 
men and sent them to hold a great meeting at Philadel- 
phia, 1774. This meeting was called the Continental 
Congress. 

That Congress tried in every way to come to a peace- 
able settlement with the king. They certainly did not 
want to go to war if they could possibly help it. But at 
any rate they were determined not to pay taxes against 
their will. 

But there was one man in Virginia — that was Patrick 
Henry — who felt certain that they would never be able 
to get the king to change his mind. He declared boldly 
what must be done. He put it all in three short words, — 
^'\Ve must fight r' 

Before long a good many others began to think the 
same thing. Then the farmers in Massachusetts and in 



122 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 






the other colonies took down the old guns which they 
had used to shoot wolves and Indians, and set to work to 
scour them up. 

Soon they began to form companies of *'minutemen," 
so that they might be ready to shoulder their guns at a 
minute's notice in case they should be wanted. 

■— They soon were wanted, for the next 
^ -. i f , spring (1775) General Gage sent a 
•'"/•' '/-i ' larcre number of British soldiers out to 
^'V^ H)) Concord, about twenty miles west of 
' ^^''^" ~ Boston (see map on page 124). 

The soldiers had orders 
to seize some pow- 
der and provisions 
which the ''minute- 
men" had stored 
there. 

The British left 
Boston in the night 
so as not to be seen, 
and they went on 
the road which 
passes through 
Lexington. 

Paul Revere 1 of Boston found out which way the 
British were going. He mounted a fast horse, got to 
Lexington before them, and gave the alarm. 

When the British reached Lexington early in the 
morning of April 19, 1775, there stood a company of 
" minutemen " ready to meet them. Both sides fired. 

1 Revere (re-veer'); see § 71. Read Longfellow's "Paul Revere 's Ride." 





The Northern States in the Revolution 



124 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 




The British killed seven of the Americans and then 
started for Concord, 

At Concord Bridge there was a much harder fight. 
Several were killed on each side. The soldiers then 
turned about to go back to Boston. But the farmers in 
their shirt sleeves stood waiting for them behind trees-and 
stone walls. As the British passed, the *' minutemen " 

shot them down like sheep. 
It was a terrible slaughter, 
for the Americans fol- 
lowed the soldiers for 
miles. 

This was the beginning 
of that great war called 
the American Revolution. ^ 
It went on for eight years. 
^ ^ ^"^ It ended, as we shall see, 

by making the colonists a free and independent people. 

120. Cooping the British up in Boston ; the battle of 
Bunker Hill, 1775. — After the British soldiers had 
returned to Boston (§ 119), the *'minutemen" from all 
parts of the country began to gather. They formed a 
ring of armed men around the town (see map on page 
126). The other colonies sent men to join them. In 
this way the American or Continental army was formed. 
It was sixteen thousand strong. General Gage had not 

1 Revolution : this word means a revolving or turning over. Here it 
means the overthrow of the English government by the American colo- 
nists, and the setting up by them of a new and independent form of 
government. When they began to fight, the colonists did not intend to 
overthrow the king's power in this country ; but they soon saw that they 
must overthrow it and establish a free goyernment of their own. 



8CALE OF MILES 



THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 125 

then nearly as many British soldiers, so he found himself 
shut up in Boston. But he was now to have a new sur- 
prise. When the sun rose on the 17th of June, 1775, 
General Gage looked up and saw to his astonishment 
that the Yankees were building a fort on Bunker Hill in 
Charlestown (see map on page 1 26). 

Bunker Hill overlooks Boston. It was plain that if 
the Yankees stayed there they would fire down on the 
British and make it hot for them. 

Looking through his spyglass at the fort. General 
Gage saw a tall, fine-looking man standing on the wall of 
earth which had just been made. '* Who is that man ? " 
he asked. "That is Colonel William Prescott," was the 
answer. ''Will he fight.?" asked the general. ''Yes, to 
the last drop of his blood." 

When General Gage heard that he ordered a part of the 
British army to drive Prescott from the hill. 

As soon as the Americans saw them coming they made 
ready to fight. Then the word was passed along among 
them : " Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes." 
The men in the fort waited until the redcoats got almost 
to them, then they fired, and the British fell in rows. 

With that, Gage's men turned about and rushed down 
the hill. But they soon came back. Again the Yankees 
drove them down the hill. But the British were like 
bulldogs, and they speedily started up the hill for a third 
time. 

The Americans had now scarcely any powder left. 
They could not hold out any longer ; they had to leave 
the fort. They gave up not because they were beaten, 
but because they no longer had anything to fight with. 



126 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



General Gage had at last won the battle. But he did not 
want to fight another one like it, for he had lost too many 
of his soldiers. More than a thousand of his men lay dead 
or wounded in the tall grass on the sides of Bunker Hill.^ 

121. Washington is made Commander in Chief of the 
Continental Army (1775). — Meanwhile the Congress at 
Philadelphia (§ 119) had appointed George Washington 

(§§ 102, 103) commander 
in chief of the Continental 
army (§ 120), which was 
gathered around Boston. 

On his way from Virginia 
to Cambridge, near Boston, 
Washington asked, ''How 
did our men behave at the 
battle of Bunker Hill.?" 
"They behaved bravely," 
was the reply. " Then," 
said he, *'the liberties af the country are safe." 

On his arrival at his headquarters at Cambridge, 
Washington took command of the American army 
(July 3, 1775), under the great elm which is still standing. 

122. Washington drives the British out of Boston (1776). 
— For a long time General Washington could do nothing 
because he had so few cannon and so little powder. But 
Ethan Allen, a Green Mountain boy (§ 59), had managed 
to capture the British fort at Ticonderoga^ on Lake 
Champlain. By that victory Allen got a great number 

1 The Americans lost less than half as many men, because they had 
the advantage of fighting behind earthworks. Read Holmes's fine poem, 
" Grandmother's Story of Bunker Hill." 

2 Ticonderoga (tT-k6n'der-o''ga). 




128 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 




ewbuo'pc' 



MA' 
Boston 



SCALE OF MILES 



of cannon and a quantity of powder. When snow fell, 
Washington sent to Ticonderoga and had the big guns 
and the powder hauled on ox sleds to the camp at Cam- 
bridge. Then he felt that he should 
soon be ready for active business. 

In the meantime the Americans had 
sent two small armies into Canada to 
take Quebec (§ 93). Benedict Arnold 
led part of the men through the woods 
of Maine. They came so near dying 
of starvation before they got to Canada 
that they were glad to dig roots out of 
the half-frozen mud and eat them to 
keep alive. But Arnold was a man that 
nothing but death could stop, and he 
pushed onward until he reached Quebec. 
Arnold's Expedition The Americans fought desperately 
and came near taking the city ; but at last they had to 
give up the attempt. 

Then it came Washington's turn to see what he could 
do with his new cannon. Early in the spring (1776) he 
managed to drag some of them to the top of a hill called 
Dorchester Heights,^ which overlooked the British fleet 
in Boston harbor. When everything was ready Wash- 
ington sent word to General Howe, the English com- 
mander. He told him that if he did not leave the town 
he would knock the place to pieces about his ears, and 
knock his vessels to pieces at the same time. 

General Howe took a long, hard look at Washington's 
cannon. They were black, ugly, and grim. Howe did 

1 It is now part of South Boston. 



THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 



129 



not like their appearance at all, and so he decided that he 
would say good-by to Boston. He and his army got on 
board their war ships (March 17, 1776) and sailed for 
Halifax, Nova Scotia. Later on, they left Halifax and 
sailed to New York to open the war there. 

123. The Americans declare themselves independent, 
July 4, 1776. — A few months after Washington had 




The British leaving Boston 



entered Boston great news came from Philadelphia. On 
July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress (§ 119) declared 
that the thirteen American colonies no longer belonged 
to Great Britain. They are now, said they, free and 
independent states. 

When the war with the king began (§ 119), the people 
did not intend to separate from England. They were 
then fighting simply to get their rights as Englishmen. 

But now everything had changed. In future they 
would fight to estabUsh the independence of the United 



I30 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

States of America. They had at last cut clear from 
George the Third and from Great Britain forever. 

124. The Patriots and the Tories in the Revolution. — 
It very seldom happens that all of the people in any 
country agree entirely about anything — not even about 
a W2LV for liberty. So the Americans in the Revolution 
took opposite sides. 

The greater part of the colonists had fully resolved to 
fight against the king. They beheved that he was wrong, 
and they said to him, We shall never lay down our guns 
until you agree to let America alone. These people 
called themselves ''patriots,"^ and Washington was their 
leader. 

If you would like to know what sort of stuff a real 
patriot was made of in those days, look at young Cap- 
tain Nathan Hale of Connecticut. He went to General 
Washington and offered to disguise himself and go into 
the British camp at New York to get information which 
would be of use to our army. 

Captain Hale knew perfectly well that if the enemy 
found out who he was and what he was doing they would 
put him to death as a spy. But he did not hesitate a 
moment. He went on his dangerous errand because he 
believed that he was doing his duty. He was discovered 
by the British. They ordered him to be hanged before 
sunrise the next day. 

As the young man stood on the scaffold he said, " I 
only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." 
These words show how an American patriot felt, and 
what an American patriot would do. 
1 Patriots (pa'tri-ots). 



THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 



131 



But there were other Americans who thought that we 
had no right to fight against the king. Many of them 
were good men and true men, who wanted to do what 
was right as much as the patriots 
did. Governor Hutchinson of 
Massachusetts was one of them. 
They called themselves Loyalists,^ 
but the people generally gave them 
the nickname of Tories. 

The Tories believed that it 
would be better for the colonists 
not to separate from England. 
They thought that they should 
get justice done them in the end, 
and that then they would have 
nothing to complain of. 

On the other hand, a part of the 
Tories were selfish men. They 
cared nothing for their country, 
but they believed the king would 
pay them well if they stood up on 
his side. Some indeed even joined 
the British and fought against the 
people of their own state. 

Before the great war was over, 
all of the Tories, good and bad ^^.^. '' 

alike, left America. Some went Captain Nathan Hale 
because they did not care to stay here any longer, but 




1 The Loyalists were those who claimed to be loyal or true to the 
king. The nickname Tory meant a man who cared more to please the 
king than he cared for his country or for liberty. 



132 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 




many of them were forced to go, and were never per- 
mitted to come back. They often gave up beautiful 
homes, the society of old friends, and, in fact, everything 
that was dear to them for the sake of doing what thjey 
thought was their duty. 

When General Howe sailed from 
Boston (§ 122) he took more than a 
thousand Tories and their families with 
him to Halifax. Thousands more went 
out of the country afterward. They 
said farewell to America forever. 
125. The war in New York; Washington crosses the 
Delaware ; battle of Trenton. — General Howe soon left 
Halifax (§ 122) for New York. General Washington 
moved his army from Boston to meet him and fight him. 
A battle took place on Long Island (1776) in which 
the Americans were beaten (see map above). The truth 
was that Washington did not have men enough. He was 
forced to leave New York. He hurried southward with 
his little army. The British general, Lord Cornwallis, 
tried his best to catch up with him ; but Washington 
managed to keep out of the way of the British. He 
crossed the state of New Jersey and finally got over the 
Delaware River, at Trenton, into the state of Pennsyl- 
vania. As CornwalHs had no boats he could not follow 
him (see map on page 133). 

On Christmas night (1776) Washington suddenly turned 
about with his men and crossed the river back to Trenton. 
He made the passage in the darkness and in the midst of 
a blinding snowstorm. The part of the British army 
which was at Trenton were not looking for an attack by 



THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 



133 



the Americans. Washington completely surprised them. 
He captured about a thousand prisoners, and got a lot 
of guns and ammunition besides. That was a Christmas 
which both sides never forgot. 

126. What Robert Morris did ; battle of Princeton ; 
Lafayette ; the Germans. — But Washington's men were 
in sore need of money. Many of them had left wives 
and children at home who did not know where they were 
to get bread to eat. 

At that time there was very little silver money in the 
country. There was plenty of paper money, or what 
was called money, but 
nobody wanted to take it 
because it was worth so 
little. Washington said 
that a whole wagonload 
of it would hardly buy a 
wagonload of potatoes. 

Robert Morris, a 
banker in Philadelphia, 
took pity on the Revo- 
lutionary soldiers. He 
knew the kind of money 
they wanted. He went 
out early on New Year's 
morning (1777) and 
managed to borrow fifty 
thousand dollars, all in 
silver. He sent it at once to Washington to pay his men. 

Then Washington marched rapidly to Princeton, New 
Jersey, and defeated the British there (see map above). 




134 ELEMENTARY AMERICAxM HISTORY 

The next summer (1777) Lafayette,^ a young French 
nobleman, a boy of nineteen, came over to America. He 
went to General Washington's camp and offered to help 
us fight for our independence. Several German military 
officers came here for the same purpose. They showed us 

how to drill our men 
, rr-^ ' and so make better 

^, ^T^Jx v'r ' i^'i^o^wu soldiers of them, 

127. The British 

'T -?=r=^'i;^ra ^ take Philadelphia; 

J?^ 1^ '^t^^S)^ Burgoyne's defeat in 

•:: -^' ,, ^'W^w^X - -t 777- — The next 

,VT--. .^ . .smff. ^Si/i autumn General 

Howe (§§ 122, 125), 
at the head of a power- 
ful British army, took 
Philadelphia in spite of 
all that Washington 
could do to stop him. 
That city was then the 
capital of the United 

^~~~ '^ States. It was a hard 

On Guard at Valley Forge ^^-^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^ j^^^ -^^ 

Washington with his little army then retreated to the hills 
at Valley Forge. There, during the winter, our men suf- 
fered terribly from hunger and cold (see map on page 133). 
But while General Howe and his men were making 
themselves comfortable and having a jolly time in the 
Quaker City, the British in eastern New York met with 
a terrible defeat. 

1 Lafayette (la'fa'yef). 




THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTlOiNT 



135 



General Burgoyne ^ had started with an army to come 
down from Canada to the Hudson River (see map below). 
Another British army went through central New York to 
join him, but brave old General Herkimer fought a battle 
at Oriskany and drove them back. Burgoyne had to make 
his way through the woods. He ran short of provisions, 
and sent a thousand soldiers to help themselves to the 
Yankee supplies at Benning- 
ton, Vermont. But Colonel 
John Stark, with a lot of 
Green Mountain and New 
Hampshire <'boys," killed 
or captured nearly the whole 
thousand. Burgoyne got to 
Saratoga, but not a mile 
farther. The Americans 
fell upon him, and Benedict 
Arnold (§ 122) and his men 
captured him and his entire 
army October 17, 1777. 

128. << Yankee Doodle '* ; the new American flag ; what 
effect the capture of Burgoyne had. — When our drummers 
and fifers entered the British camp after the great battle, 
they played " Yankee Doodle " as they had never played 
it before. Our color bearers followed, proudly carrying 
the new American flag — the stars and stripes ^ — which 
had led us on to victory. 




1 Burgoyne (Bur-goin') ; he lost nearly six thousand men. 

2 Washington raised the first flag of the thirteen United British Amer- 
ican colonies at the camp of the Continental army in Cambridge (§121), 
on New Year's Day, 1776. That flag was made by taking the British flag, 



136 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Bat in the excitement of that hour the Americans did 
not forget that Burgoyne's men were nearly ready to drop 
from hunger, so the first thing they did was to give their 
British prisoners all they could eat. 

The king of France hated the English because they had 
taken Canada away from him (§ 107). When he heard 
that Burgoyne and his whole army had been captured by 
us, he rejoiced with all his heart. Now, said he, I will 
send war ships, soldiers, and money to help the Americans 
finish up the war against George the Third. 

which then consisted of two crosses, and adding to those crosses thir- 
teen alternate red and white stripes, or one for each British American 
colony. 

After the thirteen colonies had declared themselves independent of 
Great Britain (July 4, 1776), Congress ordered (June 14, 1777) that anew 
flag should be made, which should represent the United States of America. 
It was to consist of thirteen white stars on a blue field and thirteen alternate 
red and white stripes, to represent the thirteen independent states which 
then formed the Union. The descendants of Mrs. Betsy Ross, who kept 
an upholstery shop at 239 Arch Street, Philadelphia, claim that she made 
the flag which Congress adopted. 

Apparently the stars and stripes were first raised in the war at Fort 
Stanwix (Rome), New York, on August 3, 1777. They were made of an 
old blue army overcoat, a red flannel petticoat, and some white cloth. 

The decisive battle of Saratoga, New York, October 7, 1777, when 
Burgoyne surrendered to the American army (§ 127), was the first great 
victory gained under the stars and stripes. 

English's Life of Colonel George Rogers Clark (§ 129) states that Clark 
hoisted the American flag over the fort at Vincennes in 1779, when he 
drove the British out of the northwestern part of the United States. 

It is generally thought that Captain Paul Jones (§ 129) first displayed 
the new flag from the mast of an American war ship at sea in 1777. 

Captain Robert Gray of Rhode Island (§.152) probably first carried 
the new flag around the globe in 1793. By act of Congress in 1818 the 
flag keeps the original number of stripes for the thirteen colonies, and 
displays as many stars as there are states in the Union. 




Origin and Development of the American Flag 



138 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

On the other hand, the king of England was so fright- 
ened by the surrender of so many of his men that he was 
ready to make peace. He offered to give us everything 
we asked for, except mdependence. 

But independence was the one thing we were deter- 
mined to have, no matter what it cost; so the great war 
for American liberty had to go on. 

129. The British leave Philadelphia; what George 
Rogers Clark and Captain Paul Jones did. — All winter 
long {1777—177^) Washington's men had been half freez- 
ing and half starving at Valley Forge (§ 127), but in the 
spring everything changed. The British left Philadelphia 
(§ 127) and started for New York. They went because 
they were afraid the French king would send a fleet of 
war ships against them (§ 128). 

Washington followed sharply after that part of the 
British army which went north across New Jersey. He 
beat them at the battle of Monmouth (1778) (see map on 
page 123). This was the last battle which was fought 
in the northern states in the open field. 

But the British still held New York City. They held, 
too, the northwestern wilderness between the Alleghany 
Mountains and the Mississippi River. 

Captain George Rogers Clark ^ determined to drive them 
out of that part of the country. He set out with a band of 
men as brave as himself and went westward. Going across 
the prairies of Indiana and Illinois (see map on page 1 39), he 
cleared that territory of the enemy (1778). Wherever he 
went he raised the stars and stripes, and raised them to stay. 

^ See the Life of George Rogers Clark in Montgomery's " Beginner's 
American History" in this series. 



THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 



139 



In this way Captain Clark did a piece of work of which 
any man might well be proud. He made a large part of the 
northwestern country the property of the United States. 

In 1777 Captain Paul Jones hoisted the American flag 
on an American war ship. It was the first time the stars 
and stripes had been seen on the ocean. He crossed 
the Atlantic. Then he attacked two British vessels of 
war near the English coast and captured both of them. 

Up to that time 
England had always 
boasted that she ruled 
the sea. But Paul 
Jones showed King 
George the Third that 
in future the Ameri- 
cans meant to rule part 
of it themselves. 

130. Review. — As 
we are now about half 
through the Revolutionary War, it will be best to stop 
for a little and see just how much has been done. 

When George the Third became king of England 
he resolved to make the American colonists pay taxes 
against their will. He tried to force them to buy 
stamps, but they destroyed them ; then he endeavored 
to make them buy taxed tea, and they destroyed that 
in the same way. In order to punish the colonists, the 
king closed the port of Boston. Later, when the British 
went out to seize some powder and provisions which 
belonged to the Americans, fighting took place at Lex- 
ington and Concord. 




Map showing the forts at Detroit, Kaskaskia, and 
Vincennes, with Clark's line of march 



I40 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



After the battle of Bunker Hill, Congress appointed 
Washington commander in chief of the Continental army. 
He drove the British out of Boston. 

On July 4, 1776, the thirteen American colonies declared 
themselves free and independent states. • 

After the battle of Long Island, Washington was forced 
to retreat across New Jersey and the Delaware River into 




SCALE OF MILES 
6 25 50 Too 



Pennsylvania. But he soon turned back, captured a large 
number of prisoners at Trenton, and beat the enemy at 
Princeton. But the British had a very much larger army 
than Washington, and they took possession of Philadelphia, 
then the capital of the United States. 

On the other hand, the Americans fought a decisive 
battle at Saratoga, New York, and took General Burgoyne 




The Southern States in the Revolution 



142 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

and his entire army prisoners. That was the first great 
victory won under the new American flag of the stars 
and stripes. The king of France now promised to help 
us carry on the war. 

The British army did not dare to stay in Philadelphia, 
so they went back to New York City. George Rogers 
Clark attacked the British in the northwestern country 
and drove them out of the greater part of it. Captain 
Paul Jones first raised the stars and stripes on an Amer- 
ican war ship and gained a splendid victory over the British 
on the ocean. 

After the surrender of Burgoyne, England offered the 
people of the United States everything they asked except 
independence. But the Americans replied, Independence 
is the one thing we must have. So the war went on. 

131. Lord Cornwallis sets out to conquer the South 
(1780). — The British now thought they would see if they 
could not win some victories in the South. If they could, 
it would help to make up for their bad defeat at Saratoga 

They accordingly sent a fleet of war ships and an army 
to Charleston, South Carolina. They took possession of 
that town. Lord Cornwallis (§ 125) then set out to con- 
quer the states of South Carolina and North Carolina. 

He won a battle at Camden, South Carolina (see map 
on page 140) ; but in a fight at Kings Mountain, in the 
same state, he lost some of his best men. 

Then, again, Marion ^ and Sumter, two South Carolina 
patriots, worried Cornwallis day and night. Marion would 
steal upon him like a swamp fox, when nobody expected 

1 Marion; see § 71. 



THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 



143 



him. He would kill off a number of British soldiers and 
slip away before any one could catch him. In a few days 
he would creep slyly back, and kill a few more. In this way 
the British general's army was always becoming smaller. 

132. Benedict Arnold betrays his country (1780). — 
While this strange kind of war was going on at the South 
a terrible thing happened in the state of New York. 
General Benedict . v >t V -w l,*'/--v' ,L^w • 

Arnold, one of the | ■ /''^»^^-i^>*'' ^'"^^ % 
bravest men in the -^ ^ 

American army, now 

tried tobring his ,^ 

country to ruin. 

Arnold had done 
wonders at Quebec 
(§ 122) and he had 
done more than any 
other man to win the 
victory over Bur- 
goyne at the great 
battle of Saratoga 
(§ 127). He had been 
so badly wounded in 
that battle that he was 
no longer able to fight. To reward his services, Washing- 
ton gave him the command of the fort at W^est Point on 
the Hudson River (see map on page 123). 

Instead of doing everything he could to strengthen the 
fort so that the British could not hope to take it, Arnold 
turned traitor, and secretly offered to give up the fort to 
the enemy. 




Marion and Sumter 



144 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

He employed an English spy, named Andre,^ to carry 
letters to the British general in New York City. Andre 
was stopped by some of our men. They searched him 
and found the secret papers hid away in one of his stock- 
ings. He was then tried as a spy. He was found guilty 
and was hanged. 

Meanwhile Washington had visited the fort at West 
Point. There he discovered that General Arnold had 
taken a boat and had escaped to a British war ship which 
was on the river, not far away. 

Arnold was never caught. The British paid him a 
large sum of money for what he had tried to do, and they 
put him in command of some English soldiers. He then 
turned and fought against his own country. He fought 
against Washington who had always been his friend. He 
did even worse than that, for he attacked and tried to 
destroy the very state where he was born.^ 

Once he captured an American patriot and held him as 
a prisoner of war. Arnold, it is said, asked his prisoner, 
" What would my countrymen do with me if they should 
ever manage to get hold of me ? ' ' 

The American replied, *' General Arnold, I will tell you 
plainly just what they would do. They would cut off 
your leg which was wounded at Quebec and at Saratoga, 
and they would bury it with the honors of war.^ But 
when they had done that they would then build a gallows 
and hang all the rest of you on it." 

1 Andre (an'dra). 

2 Connecticut. 

3 When soldiers bury one of their comrades with the honors of war 
the band plays at the grave and the men fire their guns over it. 



THE War of the revolution 145 

After the War of Independence was over, Arnold went 
to London to live. He was the only American in that 
great city that no other American who went there would 
look at or speak to, for Benedict Arnold was the only 
man born in the United States who had fought in the 
Revolution and who had turned traitor to his own 
country. 

133. How General Greene got the better of Lord Corn- 
"wallis (1781). — A few months after Arnold's treason 
was discovered (§ 132), General Greene of Rhode Island 
took command of the little American army in the South. 
Next to Washington he was the best general we had. 

Lord Cornwallis (§ 131) thought that he could soon 
capture General Greene, but the Yankee soldier was 
sharper than Cornwallis. He played the same game with 
the British general that a partridge will sometimes play 
with a boy who is trying to catch him. The partridge 
will pretend that his wing is broken and that he cannot 
fly, and so he will keep the boy following him until he 
suddenly rises, -spreads his wings, and is off like a shot. 
So General Greene led Cornwallis up and down and back- 
ward and forward across North and South Carolina, until 
he completely tired him out (see map on page 140). 

At last the British general made up his mind that he had 
better go north into Virginia. That was just what Greene 
wanted him to do. As soon as Cornwallis had got well 
started, the Yankee general, who had been coaxing him 
along, turned about. He then went down into South 
Carolina and drove what British there were left there 
into Charleston. There they stayed and did not dare 
to come out. 



146 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



134. Lord Cornwallis gets into a trap ; the great victory, 
1781 ; end of the War for American Independence 

Cornwallis got into Virginia (§ 133) and set about chas- 
ing Lafayette (§ 126), but the young Frenchman managed 
to keep out of his way. Finally the British general 
decided to go to Yorktown (see map below), and wait 
there until he got help from the British in New York. 
At that time Washington had his army on the banks 

of the Hudson, not far from 
New York City. He saw that 
now was his chance to capture 
Cornwallis and his army. He 
made all his preparations so 
quietly that no one suspected 
what he meant to do. Then 
when he had got everything 
ready, he hurried south with 
his men, and with some French 
soldiers besides. In addition, 
a French fleet of war ships 
sailed south to help him. 
^ ^'^ ^°° ^^^ Before Cornwallis knew just 

what had happened he found himself caught in Yorktown 
like a fox in a trap. He looked out on one side of the 
town and saw the cannon of the French fleet pointed 
straight at him. He looked out on the other side and 
saw Washington with his army getting ready to fire 
on him. 

He vowed that he would never give up. But he could 
not stand the red-hot shot and the cannon balls which poured 
into the town on all sides. At the end of a week he hoisted 




SCALE OF MtLES 



THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 



147 



a white flag on a high pole. What did that mean ? It meant 
that Lord Cornwalhs and all his army had surrendered. ^ 

It was just four years to a day since the Yankees had 
captured Burgoyne and his army at Saratoga (§ 127). 

The British soldiers marched out of Yorktown October 
19, 1 78 1, and gave up their guns to Washington. The 
great War of the Revolution had come to an end. 




<'-4^ 






The Surrender of the British at Yorktown 



King George the Third saw that it would be of no use 
to fight the Americans any longer. He said, Let us make 
peace. In 1783 the treaty, or agreement of peace, was 
signed, and the United States of America became a free 
and independent nation. 

1 Lord Cornwallis was confined to his bed by illness, and he sent 
General O'Hara to make the surrender for him. General Washington 
appointed General Lincoln to receive Cornwallis's sword. 



148 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

135. Review of the whole Revolutionary War. — King 
George the Third taxed the American colonists against 
their will. Rather than pay the tax they resolved to fight. 
The year after the war began they declared themselves 
independent. 

The first great victory won by the Americans was when 
they captured General Burgoyne and his whole army at 
Saratoga, New York, in 1777. The king of France then 
sent over men, ships, and money to help them keep up 
the fight. 

Four years later, Washington, with the help of the 
French, defeated Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia, 
1 78 1. The surrender of that general with his army com- 
pelled the king of England to make peace. The people 
of the United States of America had now gained their 
independence. 



XI 



THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES MAKE A NEW 
FORM OF GOVERNMENT — THE CONSTITUTION (1788) 

136. Trouble at home. — But though the war was now 
over, the people of the United States were not contented. 
The citizens of the different states quarreled with each 
other about many things. Those who lived in one part 
would not let those who lived in another send things to 
market unless they paid a tax on them. So there was 
no real freedom of trade between New England and 
the Middle States or between the Middle States and the 
South. This of course made a great deal of trouble. 

Then, again, the people could not agree about the best 
way of carrying on the government. The government 
needed money, but the people would not give what was 
called for; oftentimes they would not give anything at all. 
There was no one then whose duty it was to see that the 
laws made by the government were enforced. The United 
States had a Congress which met and said what ought to 
be done, but it had no President to see that those things 
were done. 

The- people went on in this way for four years (1783- 
1787). All that time matters were steadily getting worse. 
The truth is that the country was like a barrel made of 
thirteen good solid staves, but with no hoops to hold them 

149 



150 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

together. Finally, Washington and other noted men said, 
We must hold a convention, or meeting, and talk these 
things over, for if we do not find out soon what ought to 
be done the United States will drop to pieces. 

137. The people of the United States make a new form 
of government. — Twelve of the thirteen states chose 
more than fifty of their wisest and best men, and sent them 
to Philadelphia (i 787) to see what should be done. Wash- 
ington was one of them. Benjamin Franklin was another. 

They spent nearly four months in trying to make 
improvements in the form of government which we then 
had. At last they agreed to throw everything aside and 
make an entirely new form of government. The new 
agreement, which they signed, was called the Constitution. 

The Constitution made many changes, but there were 
only four to which we need give our attention here. 

First. The Constitution ordered that the American 
republic should have a head or President. It would be 
his duty to see that in future the people obeyed the laws 
passed by Congress, 

Secondly. The Constitution gave Congress power to 
raise whatever money the government really needed. 
For instance, if the government wanted ten millions of 
dollars to build new war ships, or to pay soldiers for fight- 
ing the Indians, or for widening the entrance to New 
York harbor, or for constructing lighthouses along the 
seacoast, then it could call on the people to give that 
sum, and it could make sure of getting what it called for. 

Thirdly. The Constitution declared plainly that every 
American had the right to buy and sell goods freely, in 
any state in the Union or in all the states of the Union. 



THE CONSTITUTION 



151 



Fourthly. The Constitution declared that if the people 
of any state got into a dispute about what Congress or 
the President had the right to do, they must not try to 
settle it. They must let the Court of the United States 
settle it for them. 

After the convention, or meeting, at Philadelphia had 
voted to accept the Constitution, it was sent to the people 
of the thirteen states. They, in their turn, voted to 
accept it, and, in that way, they set up a new and far 
better form of government than they had before (1788). 

That was done more than a hundred years ago. We 
are living under that Constitution, or set of rules, to-day. 
We have made some additions or amendments to it, but 
the greater part of it stands unchanged. Men like Wash- 
ington and Franklin believed that it was a good piece of 
work. Time has shown that they were right. The Con- 
stitution is so good that every American feels proud of it, 
and a number of other countries, France for one, have 
copied large parts of it for their government. 

138. Review. — After the great War of the Revolution 
was over, the people of the United States did not feel satis- 
fied with the rules, or form of government, which they had. 

They sent a number of their best men to Philadelphia to 
see what ought to be done. They agreed to make a new 
Constitution, for the government of the country. Before 
that time we had a Congress which passed laws, but we 
had no President to see that those laws were obeyed. 

The new Constitution, which the people accepted, gave 
us a President. We are living under that Constitution 
now, and we find it such a good one that we honor it as 
we honor our country's flag. 



XII 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES UNDER THE 
CONSTITUTION (1789-1861) 

GEORGE WASHINGTON, FIRST PRESIDENT (1789-1797) 

139. Washington becomes the first President of the 
United States, 1789. — We had now got a new Constitu- 
tion, or form of government (§ 137). The next thing to 




Election of Washington 

be done was to elect a President. Every one wanted 
General Washington to take that office, and so he was 
chosen the first President of the United States. 

152 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



153 



New York City was then the capital of the country. 
Washington was made President there in 1789. Wlien the 
work was done, the bells of the city rang a merry peal, can- 
non thundered, and great crowds of people shouted for joy. 

They felt certain that the country had chosen a man 
who would always do his duty. They knew that there 




The Hall and Staircase at Mount Vernon 



was no longer any danger that the thirteen states would sud- 
denly drop to pieces like a barrel without a hoop (§ 136). 

President Washington selected four men ^ to help him 
carry on his work. They were Thomas Jefferson, who 
wrote the Declaration of Independence (§ 123), Alexander 

1 They formed the Cabinet or private council of the President. They 
met with him from time to time to talk over what should be done. Every 
President since has had a Cabinet. 



154 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Hamilton, General Henry Knox, and Edmund Randolph.^ 
Next, the President appointed John Jay of New York to 
be the chief judge, or chief justice, of the Court of the 
United States.^ 

140. The United States raises money to meet its expenses 
and pay its debts. — The first thing for the United States 
to do was to raise money to meet its expenses^ and to pay 
its debts. Congress passed a law called a tariff.'^ The 
tariff declared that every pound of tea, or yard of silk, or 
gallon of wine which came into the country should be 
taxed a certain sum. 

If, for instance, a merchant in New York or Philadel- 
phia sent a vessel to China and got one hundred thousand 
pounds of tea he might have to pay the United States six 
cents a pound when he landed the tea here. In that case 
he handed over to the government six thousand dollars 
duty, or tax. We never had a tariff before, and so we 
never had been able to get money in this way. We now 
began to get a large sum every year. 

Alexander Hamilton (§ 1 39) received all of this money 
and took care of it for the United States. He advised 
Congress to take part of it to pay our debts. 

1 Thomas Jefferson was Secretary of State ; part of his duty was to 
see that everything went on smoothly between the United States and 
the nations of Europe ; Alexander Hamilton was Secretary of the 
Treasury, and took care of the money belonging to the United States ; 
General Knox was Secretary of War, and looked after the army of the 
United States ; Edmund Randolph was Attorney-general, and advised 
on law matters. 

2 The Supreme Court of the United States ; this is the highest court 
in the country. 

^ Some of the necessary expenses of the government have already 
been mentioned; see § 137. ^ Tariff (tar'if). 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 155 

We owed France gold which we had borrowed to buy 
guns and powder when we were fighting the Revolu- 
tionary War (§ 128). Next, we owed the different states 
money which we had borrowed to spend in the same way. 
Last of all, we owed the soldiers of the Revolution more 
than a million of dollars which they were begging Con- 
gress to pay them. 

Congress finally voted to settle all of these debts. 
From that day to this the United States has never failed 
to pay every dollar it has borrowed. You and I can say 
with pride, Our country is honest, it has never cheated 
any one out of a cent that belonged to him. Whoever 
has lent money to it has not only got it back again, but 
has got interest with it. 

141. Making a new kind of money ; counting the people 
of the United States. — Up to this time the United States 
had never used any gold or silver money except what had 
come from some country of Europe. Many of the coins 
were so old that they were worn perfectly smooth. 
Others had pieces cut out of them. Scarcely any of them 
were perfect, and for that reason it was often very difficult 
to tell what a piece of money was really worth. That, of 
course, made it hard to do business. 

Thomas Jefferson said to Congress, We ought to stop 
using these foreign coins. We ought now to make some 
coins of our own. Congress agreed to this, and built a 
mint at Philadelphia. That mint sent out the first gold 
and silver money which had on it the name " United States 
of America." 

From that time we began to make dollars, half dollars, 
quarters, dimes, and half dimes. These pieces were all 



156 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

new and bright. Everybody liked to see them, everybody 
liked to handle them, everybody liked still more to get as 
many as he could of them. Later, the government began 
to make gold coins. 

From Thomas Jefferson's day down to ours no one has 
ever said a word against the money made by the United 
States mints. It has always been found to be good at 
home and just as good abroad — that means that it is 
good everywhere. 

Another question then came up, and a very interesting 
one it was. It was this : How many people are there in 
the United States ? No one knew, for they had never 
been counted. 

The first census, or count, was made in 1790. That 
showed that we had then nearly four millions of people. 
We have taken a census every ten years since that date. 
The last one, which was completed in 19 10, showed that 
we had grown from four millions to over one hundred mil- 
lions. When Washington became our first President we 
were a very small nation, but now we have become one of 
the largest and strongest in the world. We have many 
more people than England, or France, or Germany. 

142. We have trouble with France ; emigrants go West; 
trouble with the Indians. — While Washington was Presi- 
dent the people of France rose against their king. They 
cut off his head and they set up a republic something 
like ours. 

Then war broke out between the French republic and 
England. The French sent over to get us to help them. 
But Washington knew that if we helped France we should 
certainly get into war with England. He thought that 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



157 



we had done fighting enough for a while. On that account 
he declared that we ought not to take any part whatever 
in the quarrel between England and France. This natu- 
rally made the French people feel very angry toward us, 
and they made us a good deal of trouble. 

By this time a good many people were beginning to 
leave their homes in the east and cross the Alleghany 




Map of Boone's "Wilderness Road 



Mountains. They made settlements in the wild western 
country which lay between those mountains and the 
Mississippi River. 

Daniel Boone,^ a noted hunter, had already gone to the 
Kentucky Country and had built a fort there. Others 
had gone to the Tennessee Country and made settlements. 
Later, companies of emigrants went from New England 
to Pittsburg (§ 104), where they built boats and floated 

1 See the Life of Boone in Montgomery's " Beginner's American 
History" in this series. 



53 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



down the Ohio River. They made a settlement which 
they called Marietta. ^ Not long afterward another com- 
pany of emigrants went farther down the river (see map 
opposite) and built a little village of log huts (1788) which 
they named Cincinnati.^ 

The Indians in that part of the West tried to kill off 

these emigrants. They 
would hide in the woods 
and fire at their boats as 
they floated past, and 
they attacked them in 
their houses besides. 

President Washington 
sent General Wayne, a 
noted Revolutionary sol- 
dier, to see what he could 
do to stop this. The 
Indians were very much 
afraid of him. They said 
that he was as quick as 
a black snake — and that 
is the quickest of all 
snakes in that part of 
the country. 

General Wayne beat the Indians in a great fight. He 
then made them give up a very large piece of the Ohio 
Country to the whites. 

143. Young Eli Whitney invents a wonderful machine, 
^793* — The planters at the South raised large quantities 
of tobacco and rice, but they wanted to raise cotton as 

1 Marietta (ma'ri-et'a). ^ Cincinnati (sin'sTn-na'tT). 




Cotton in the Field 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



159 



well. There was a difficulty in the way of their doing 
that. The soft white down of the cotton plant is filled 
with little green seeds which stick very tight. These 
seeds must be taken out before the cotton can be made 
into cloth. It used to take a negro a whole day to pick 
out the seeds from a single pound of cotton. For this 








The Cotton Gin ^ (or Cotton Machine) 

reason it did not pay the planters to raise cotton because 
cotton cloth then cost so much that only a few people could 
afford to buy it. 

Eli Whitney,^ a young Yankee schoolmaster, was then 
living in Georgia. He believed that he could invent a 
machine which would take out the seeds. He made 



1 "Gin" is an abbreviation of engine, a machine. 

2 See Life of Whitney in " Beginner's American History " in this series. 



l60 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

what he called a "cotton gin." It was entirely success- 
ful, and it would clean as much cotton in one day as 
several hundred slaves could do. 

The planters were delighted. They said, Now, ''cotton 
is king." We can sell all we can raise. So they began 
to cover thousands of acres with the plant. Mills were 
built in Massachusetts and other parts of New England 
for making cotton cloth. Besides this the South sent 
quantities of cotton to England and sold it. This of 
course was a good thing, for it brought a great deal 
of money into the country from abroad. 

But Eli Whitney's invention did one thing which he 
probably had never thought about. It made more people 
at the South want to keep slaves. On the other hand, 
it made a great many people at the North want to see 
slavery spread and grow stronger. Those who owned 
cotton mills for making cloth saw how they would get 
rich through slave labor; so did those who owned ships 
and carried bales of cotton to England. 

Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin had hoped that the 
time was soon coming when their countrymen would stop 
buying and selling black men. But now, as we have seen, 
all that was changed, and the chance that the negroes 
would get their freedom seemed farther off than ever. 

144. John Jay makes a treaty, or agreement, with Eng- 
land. — Although we were at peace with England we still 
had some disputes with that country. England still held 
some forts at Detroit and at other places along our north- 
ern boundary line. We asked the king to give them up, 
but he replied that he meant to keep them until we paid 
certain debts which British merchants said we owed them. 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES i6l 

Next, England was at war with France, and so would 
not let us send wheat to that country to sell. 

Last of all, England refused to let us sell anything, we 
raised or made, to the islands which she owned in the 
West Indies. That was a great loss to us. 

President Washington sent John Jay (§ 139) to London 
to settle these disputes. He made a treaty, or agreement, 
between the United States and England by which we got 
possession of the forts, but that was about all. 

Many of our people were greatly disappointed because 
Jay did not succeed in doing more. They were so angry 
that they called him and the President abusive names ; 
but the greater part of, the people believed that we had 
done well. 

They said. Patient waiters are no losers ; the next 
time we make a treaty with England we shall do better. 
They were right. We have made many treaties with 
England since then, and we have certainly lost nothing 
by them. 

145. Death of Washington ; three new states added to 
the Union. — Washington had been elected President 
twice. He was glad to go back to his beautiful home at 
Mount Vernon on the banks of the Potomac.^ Two years 
later, he died there (1799). The whole country mourned 
the loss of the great and good man, who had won the 
War of American Independence, and who had been the 
first President of the United States. 

While Washington was in office three new states were 
admitted to the Union. They were Vermont, Kentucky, 
and Tennessee. That made sixteen states in all. 

1 Potomac (po-to'mak), 



l62 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

146. Review. — While Washington was President, the 
United States raised money to pay the debts which we 
owed at the end of the Revolutionary War. Next, we 
established a mint at Philadelphia to coin our first gold 
and silver money ; we also took the first census. 

Many people from the eastern states now began to 
move to the Ohio Country and to other parts of the 
West. General Wayne forced the Indians to give up 
a large tract of land to them. 

Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793. This 
machine made cotton raising very profitable not only to 
southern planters but to many people in the North. For 
this reason they now 'wanted to increase the number of 
slaves in the country. 

John Jay made a treaty with England by which we got 
possession of Detroit and other forts on the northern 
boundary of the country. 

Finally, the three new states of Vermont, Kentucky, and 
Tennessee were added to the Union, making sixteen in all. 



JOHN ADAMS, SECOND PRESIDENT (1797-1801) 

147. We have more trouble with France ; we build 
some famous war ships. — Our second President was John 
Adams of Massachusetts. The French who had made 
President Washington so much trouble (§ 142) now began 
to make more. They threatened to fight us unless we 
gave them ''plenty of money." 

President Adams said, " America is not scared." The 
people shouted, " We will give millions of dollars to defend 
the country, but we will not give the French one cent." 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 163 

Congress then ordered three war ships to be built. 
The first one was named the Comtitution (§ 137). We 
shall see, by and by, that she proved herself to be a grand 
ship, well worthy of her name. We fought and captured 
a French vessel of war and gained the victory over two 
more. When the French found that instead of giving 
them "plenty of money" we gave them plenty of can- 
non balls they were glad to make peace. 

148. Congress passes two new laws ; what Kentucky 
and Virginia did about them (1798-1799). — But there were 
some people in America who seemed to think more of 
France than they did of their own country. They abused 
President Adams, and said that we ought to have given 
France money instead of fighting her. 

In order to stop that kind of foolish talk, Congress 
passed two laws.^ These laws punished foreigners living 
here who were bent on doing mischief. Next, they punished 
all those persons who spoke evil of the President or the 
Congress of the United States. 

The two states of Kentucky and Virginia declared that 
these new laws were wrong and that they ought not to be 
obeyed.2 But none of the other states in the Union would 
say that they agreed with them, and so nothing was done 
about the matter, though at that time it made great 
excitement. 

149. Review. — While John Adams was President, the 
French demanded money from us. We not only refused 
to give them a single cent, but we built war ships and 
fought them until they begged for peace. 

1 These were the Alien and Sedition Acts. 

2 These were the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. 



164 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



Congress passed two laws to punish those who abused 
the President because we had fought France. Kentucky 
and Virginia said that these laws ought not to be obeyed, 
but none of the other states stood by them. 

THOMAS JEFFERSON, THIRD PRESIDENT (1801-1809) 

150. The new capitol building at Washington ; the Afri- 
can pirates. — Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declara- 
tion of Independence (§ 123), became our third President. 
When he went to the city of Washington, the new capitol 




Jefferson's House at Monticello, Virginia 

building had just been completed. Nearly all the country 
around it was then covered with woods. 

To-day Washington is fast growing to be one of the most 
beautiful cities in the world. The capitol has been rebuilt 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



165 



and it is the largest and finest building there. Many 
people who are good judges believe that there is nothing 
grander to be seen anywhere. 

Jefferson ^ was not a man who liked war, but soon after 
he became President he had to fight some African pirates. 




A Room in Jefferson's House 



The people living in Algiers ^ and Tripoli,^ on the north 
coast of Africa, had become very bold and impudent. 
They used to stop our merchant ships in the Mediter- 
ranean and rob them. They even went so far as to carry 
off the sailors and make slaves of them. They refused 
to let these poor men go free unless the United States 
would pay them large sums of money. 

1 See the Life of Thomas Jefferson in Montgomery's " Beginner's Ameri- 
can History" in this series. 2 Ajgie^-s (al-jerz'). ^Tripoli (trip'o-li). 



1 66 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



Jefferson said this must be stopped. He sent several 
of our war ships to punish these pirates. The Americans 
fired so many hot shot into the rascals that they very soon 
begged for mercy. 

151. The State of Ohio admitted; we buy the Louisiana 

Country, 1803 While the war with the African pirates 

was going on 
(§ 150), the new 
state of Ohio was 
admitted to the 
Union. This made 
seventeen in all 

(§ 145)- 

That same year, 
1803, President 
Jefferson bought 
the French city of 
New Orleans on 
the Mississippi 
River (§ 96) and 
the whole of the 
great Louisiana 
Country (§§ 96, 
107) west of that 
river (see map on 
page 168). It covered nearly 900,000 square miles, 
and Napoleon Bonaparte,^ who was then emperor ^ of 
France, sold it to us for fifteen millions of dollars. He 
did that because he was in great need of money. 

1 Napoleon Bonaparte (na-p6'le-on bo'na-part). 

" Spain had sold the Louisiana Country back to Fiance ; see § 107. 




Fighting the African Pirates 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



167 



It was not only the largest piece of land which the 
United States ever purchased, but it was the cheapest, 
for we got it for less than three cents an acre. If you 
look on the map on page 168, you will see that it made the 
American republic more than twice the size it was before. 
For when Washington became President, the United 
States did not extend farther west than the Mississippi. 







The Cabildo ^ 
(The building in New Orleans where France sold us Louisiana) 



Beyond that river we did not own a piece of ground 
as big as a man's hand. But now that we had got the 
Louisiana Country, we could carry the stars and stripes 
a thousand miles west of the great river ; we could 
plant them on the highest ridge of the Rocky Mountains, 
and we could say, All this vast territory belongs to us. 

152. Lewis and Clark explore the Louisiana Country and 
pass through the Oregon Country. — Of course everybody 

1 Cabildo (ka-birdo), or City Hall. 



i68 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 




The United States in 1803, after the Purchase of Louisiana 

(The bars on the Oregon Country are explained on the map on page 185) 

wanted to know what kind of a bargain we had made in 
buying so much land. Jefferson sent two young men 
named Lewis and Clark to find that out. 

They started from St. Louis (1804), which was then 
a little French village of whitewashed log cabins, with 
only two American families in the place. They went up 
the Missouri River in boats as far as the Rocky Moun- 
tains. They saw no white men, for all that part of the 
West was then covered with tribes of roaming red men, 
who hunted buffalo on the great plains. 

President Jefferson was a wise man, but he thought 
that we should not want to make any settlements or build 
any towns in that wild country for a hundred years. The 
hundred years have passed, and you can look on the large 
map (opposite page 304) and count the states and the 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



169 



cities and towns which you find between the Mississippi 
River and the Rocky Mountains and then say whether you 
think the President made a mistake or not. After Lewis 
and Clark had reached and crossed the Rocky Mountains, 
they entered a branch of the Columbia River and floated 
down the stream until they came to the Pacific Ocean. 

But though they were the first Americans who crossed 
the wilderness of Louisiana, another American had en- 
tered the Columbia River before them. Captain Robert 
Gray, of Rhode Island, who first carried the stars and 
stripes around the world, had sailed up that river a short 




The Fort at St. Louis in 1803 

distance (1792). He raised the American flag there, and 
declared that the Oregon Country^ belonged to the United 
States by right of discovery (see map facing page 158)'. 

153. What Aaron Burr set out to do. — But while we 
were making the United States immensely larger by the 
addition of this vast western territory, Aaron Burr set out 
to steal a part of the republic (1806). Burr was a bold, 
bad man, who was always plotting some kind of mischief. 
He had shot Alexander Hamilton (§ 139) in a duel, and 
then ran away to the South to escape punishment. 

1 The Columbia River (see map, page 1 58) gets its name from the ship 
CohiTiibia, in which Captain Gray sailed ; before that time it was called 
the Oregon River. The name "Oregon Country" comes from that river, 
and so does the name of the state of Oregon. 



170 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



While he was at the South he was secretly planning 
something. It is generally believed that he meant to get 
possession of New Orleans. If so, he intended to make 
it the capital of a new nation, which he hoped to rule 
over like a prince or a president, — no one knows which. 
Burr seems to have thought that he could persuade the 




Lewis and Clark exploring the Louisiana Country 



people of the southwestern part of the United States to join 
him in this plot for breaking up the American republic. 

But he failed in all he undertook. He was arrested 
and tried for treason, — that is, for being an enemy to 
his own country, as Benedict Arnold was (§ 132), — but 
the court set him free at last. After that, very few 
people cared to have anything to do with him. They 
looked upon him as a man who loved evil rather than 
good, and who would tear the stars from our flag if he 
thought he could do it safely. 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 17 1 

154. We get into trouble with England and France ; the 
English search our ships ; the Embargo. — England and 
France had been at war for a long time, and each one of 
these nations ordered the United States to stop trading 
with the other. If, for instance, a New York shipowner 




The Arrest of Aaron Burr 

sent an American vessel loaded with wheat to France, an 
English war ship would seize it. If, on the other hand, 
a merchant in Charleston, South Carolina, sent a cargo of 
cotton to England, a French war ship would seize that. 

These things were bad enough, but worse things were 
coming. England, at that time, was in great need of 
sailors on her war ships. A good many of them had run 
away and had got places on our merchant vessels. 

The king of England gave orders to the captains of his 
war ships to stop our vessels on the ocean and search 



1/2 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

them for British seamen. When they found any they 
would carry them off. Oftentimes they would take 
American sailors, for they did not care much, as long as 
they got some good men, and they would force them 
to go on board their war ships and fight against France. 

This went on for a number of years. At last the Eng- 
lish captains grew so bold that they actually stopped and 
searched an American ship of war. That was something 
they had never dared to do before. The Leopard} an 
armed British vessel, stopped the American man-of-war 
Chesapeake ^ and took four sailors from her. One of them 
they said was a deserter from an EngHsh vessel, so they 
hanged him. 

Congress was very angry, and many members wanted 
to go to war at once, but a larger number thought that 
we had better wait. Finally, Congress passed a law which 
ordered that none of our merchant vessels should leave 
port (1807). This order, which was called an embargo? 
caused great distress in New England, because it threw 
thousands of our sailors out of work and put an entire stop 
to our trade on the ocean. At last the embargo made so 
much trouble that it had to be given up. 

155. Robert Fulton's wonderful boat, 1807 ; the first 
bicycle. — Up to this time people had always depended 
on sails for moving any kind of vessel bigger than a row- 
boat. If, for instance, a merchant living in New York 
wished to go up the river to Albany, on business, he had 
to go by a sailing vessel. It often took him three or four 
days to make the journey. 

1 Leopard (lep'erd). 2 Chesapeake (ches'a-pek). 

3 Embargo (em-bar'go). 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



173 







Robert Fulton ^ thought that he could build a vessel 
which would do better than that. He constructed a boat 
which was moved by paddle wheels driven by steam. 
In the summer of 1807 he gave notice that he should 
start for Albany and 

would take any passen- '^' ^ ^ r 

gers who wanted to go 
with him. 

A great crowd of 
people gathered to see 
the fun, for very few 
of them believed that 
Fulton's queer-looking 
craft would start. But 
when Fulton appeared 
on deck and spoke the 
word, Go ! his steam- 
boat began to move up- 
stream. She did not 

The First Bicycle 
stop moving until she 

reached Albany, thirty-two hours later. From that day 
the steamboat kept traveling on the Hudson. Before many 
years had gone by, steamboats like Fulton's were going 
up and down the Ohio, the Mississippi, and backward and 
forward across Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes. 

The Indians looked in astonishment at the white man's 
"fire canoe," as they called it, which could go upstream 
against the current a good deal faster than they could 
paddle downstream. 

1 See the Life of Fulton in Montgomery's " Beginner's American 
History" in this series. 



174 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Later on (1819), an American steamship called the 
Savannah made the first trip across the Atlantic that 
had ever been made by a vessel of that kind. 

While travel on the water was making such rapid 
progress, people were trying other experiments. A man 
in France invented a riding machine. The rider pushed 
himself along by pressing his toes on the ground. By 
working very hard he could get along a little faster than 
if he walked. A carriage-maker in Boston built some of 
these queer machines (18 18), but he did not succeed in 
persuading many to use them. Nearly fifty years later 
some one made an improvement in the wheels, and now 
bicycles are seen flying about everywhere. 

156. Review. — While Thomas Jefferson was President 
we punished the African pirates who had stopped our 
vessels on the Mediterranean. Next, we bought the 
Louisiana Country of France in 1803. It was the largest 
territory ever added to the United States and it more than 
doubled it in size. Lewis and Clark first made their way 
across it and went on to the Pacific. They passed through 
the Oregon Country which Captain Robert Gray had already 
claimed as ours by his discovery of the Columbia River. 

Aaron Burr was arrested and tried, for an attempt to 
break up the United States by force of arms, but was 
allowed to go free for want of proof. 

Later, we got into trouble with England and France 
because they seized our vessels on the ocean. The cap- 
tains of English war ships stopped our merchant ships, 
carried off our sailors, and forced them to fight against 
the French. They finally stopped and searched the 
Chesapeake^ one of our war ships. 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 175 

Congress ordered an embargo which shut up all Ameri- 
can merchant ships in our ports, but that rule soon had 
to be given up. 

In 1807 Robert Fulton built the first steamboat which 
went up the Hudson; in a few years steamboats were 
running on the western rivers and on the Great Lakes, 
and later (1819), an American steamship — the first one 
of its kind — crossed the Atlantic. About the same 
time, a riding machine was invented which in time became 
the bicycle. 



JAMES MADISON, FOURTH PRESIDENT (1809-1817) 

157. General Harrison^s fight with the Indians. — James 
Madison became the fourth President of the United States. 
He tried hard to settle our quarrel with England, but he 
did not succeed. However, we soon had other things to 
think about, for a terrible Indian war broke out in the 
territory west of the state of Ohio. A famous chief 
named Tecumseh^ accused the white men of cheating 
the Indians out of their lands. He resolved to drive 
them from that part of the country. 

President Madison sent General Harrison to put down 
the Indians. While General Harrison's men were in camp 
on the banks of the Tippecanoe^ River in Indiana Territory, 
the savages made up their minds to attack them. They 
crept slyly up at night. They crawled on their hands and 
knees through the tall grass until they came to where the 
soldiers were sleeping. Then they suddenly rose up, and, 
swinging their hatchets, rushed with a wild yell on our men. 

1 Tecumseh (te-kum'seh). 2 Tippecanoe (tip'e-ka-noo'). 



176 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



The soldiers not only stood their ground, but they com- 
pletely beat the Indians. Then, pushing on, they burned 
the Indian village with its cornfields. Soon everybody 
in the country was talking of the victory we had gained 
at the battle of Tippecanoe (see map below). 

158. Our second war with England, 1812. — Meanwhile 
the captains of English war ships kept stopping our mer- 
chant vessels and taking sailors from them (§ 154). In 
this way the king of England had managed to get several 
thousand Americans, and he made them help him fight 

his batt*les at sea against the French. 
At last we could bear this no 
longer. We told the king that un- 
less he stopped taking our men we 
should fight. He refused to stop, 
and in the summer of 18 12 Congress 
declared war, — our second war with 
England. 

159. We get ready to make an attack on Canada, but get 
beaten; our later victories. — We thought it would be a 
good plan to begin the war by attacking the British in 
Canada. But we made a bad start. General William 
Hull went to Fort Detroit, intending to have a battle with 
General Brock, who commanded an army of Canadians 
and Indians. Before Hull got ready to move, the English 
general came up and demanded the surrender of the fort 
(see map on page 178). 

General Hull had not nearly as many men as the Eng- 
lish, and he was afraid that if he got beaten the savages 
would kill all the women and children in Detroit. He 
hoisted a tablecloth for a white flag, to show that he 








British Officers taking an American Sailor from a Ship 



178 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



would give up the fort, and General Brock's army took 
possession of it. 

The country was so angry to think that General Hull 
did not fight that they cried out, Punish him, punish him ! 
He was tried by a court made up of soldiers, and sentenced 
to be shot as a coward. But the President pardoned 
him because he was an old man and in the War of the 
Revolution he had shown himself to be a brave soldier. 




SCALE OF MILES 



We did not give up fighting Canada, and later on we 
gained several battles there. But we shall see that all of 
our great victories, except one, were gained on the ocean 
or on the lakes. 

160. The English take the city of Washington; the 
*< Star-Spangled Banner/' — At the East, the English 
captured the city of Washington and burned the Capitol 
and other public buildings. 

They also tried to take Baltimore. That city was 
defended by Fort McHenry^ (see map on page 179). A 
fleet of British war ships set out to knock it to pieces. 
1 McHenry (mak-hen'ri). 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



179 



'They fired at it all night, but they found the fort was too 
hard a nut for them to crack. When the sun rose every- 
body looked to see whether the stars and stripes had been 
hauled down. Great was our joy when we saw that <'our 
flag was still there." 

One man was so delighted at the sight that he pulled 
an old letter from his pocket and wrote on the back of it 
the famous song of the "Star-Spangled Banner." Soon 
all the people in the country were singing it. 

161. The Yankee ship Constitution whips the British 
ship Guerriete (1812). — It will be remembered that the 
first war ship which Congress 
built for our new navy was the 
Constitution (§ 147). One of 
the London papers called her 
-*'a bundle of pine boards." We 
now sent out that ''bundle" to 
see what she could do in a war 
with England. 

Some people thought that it 
was very foohsh to dare to match 
■our twelve or fifteen fighting 
ships against Great Britain's 
huge fleet, numbering not far from a thousand. But 
there were others who said. Go and read that story in 
the Bible, and see how the boy David slew the giant 
with a single small pebble .^ 

Now, Captain Isaac ^ Hull, who commanded the Con- 
stittition, was like the boy David. He was afraid of 
nothing, and when he fired, he fired to kill. 




SCALE OF MILBS 



1 I Samuel xvii. 



2 Isaac (rzak). 



l8o ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Captain Hull met the British ship Giierriere'^ not far 
away from the coast of Nova Scotia. The British captain 
began to fight at once. Captain Hull, like " Brer Rabbit" 
in the negro story ,^ did n't say anything, but kept quiet 
and would not let his guns speak a word. Then, when 
the enemy's vessel had got almost up to him, he gave 
the order, and the guns of the Constitution spoke ! 

In about twenty minutes the British ship was knocked 
all to pieces. Then, after Captain Hull had taken her 
crew out of her, he set her on fire and blew her up. 

The Constitution came out of the battle with very little 
damage. The shipbuilders in Boston had built her of solid 
oak, not pine, and the people were so delighted with her 
work that later on they named her "Old Ironsides."^ 
To-day the grand old ship lies in a place of honor off 
Charlestown navy yard, and numerous visitors go to see 
her every year. 

This battle on the ocean was the first of many which 
we fought there. We gained twelve out of fifteen. A 
champion baseball team would find it hard work to do 
better than that. 

162. What the Americans did on Lake Erie and on Lake 
Champlain. — The next year (1813) Commodore* Perry 
started out on Lake Erie in command of a fleet of small 
vessels. Most of them he had built of trees growing on 
the shore of the lake. 



1 Guerriere (gar-ry-ar'). 

2 J. C. Harris's " Stories of Uncle Remus." 

3 The Constitution was built at a shipyard in Boston near the spot 
where Constitution Wharf now stands. 

* Commodore (k 6m 'mo-dor'). 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



i8l 



He had a fight with a British fleet much stronger than 
his own, and, after a terrible contest, he won the day (see 
map on page 182). When the battle was over we had 
cleared the lake of the British. We then made them 
give up Detroit to us (§ 159). Commodore Perry wrote to 




A Battle at Sea in the War of 1812 

General Harrison, who was in command of the American 
army, "We have met the enemy, and they are ours." 

Commodore Macdonough ^ commanded a little American 
fleet on Lake Champlain.2 He was soon able to write 
what Commodore Perry had written, for he beat the 
British in Plattsburg Bay (see map on page 178). 



1 Macdonough (mak-don'oh). 

2 Champlain (sham-plan'). 



I82 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



163. Jackson's great victory at New Orleans (1815) 

Now, to finish up with, General Andrew Jackson ^ under- 
took to show the British what American sharpshooters 
could do in a fight on land. 

Everybody knew that he could handle any number of 
Indians, for he had beaten them the year before in Alabama 
territory. The question was whether he could do even 
better than that. For now he had to defend the city of 
New Orleans against an attack by some of the best sol- 
diers in the Enghsh army. 
General Pakenham,^ with 
ten thousand men, set out 
to take the city. 

General Jackson had only 
half as many men ; but a 
good part of them were old 
hunters who could put a 
bullet through anything 
that was as big as a squir- 
rel's eye. 

Jackson threw up a bank of earth and logs to protect 
his army and then waited for the redcoats to come on. 
They came with a rush; but they never got over the 
bank, for Jackson's cannon mowed them down in heaps, 
and his sharpshooters killed hundreds more. 

The British general was shot, and his men were left 
without a leader. They did not fear to face death. They 
declared that they would far rather die than be beaten 
by the Yankees. But at last they saw that they must 

^ See the Life of General Jackson in Montgomery's " Beginner's 
American History " in this series. ^ Pakenham (pak'en-am). 




GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



183 



give up the struggle and confess that General Jackson 
had fairly won the fight. 

This was the last battle of the war. The contest had been 
going on for two years and a half ( 1 8 1 2- 1 8 1 5 ). It is always 
called the War of 1 8 1 2 because it began in that year. 

164. What we gained by the War of 1812 ; growth of 
the Union. — The War of 1812 did this good for us : it 




Battle of New Orleans 

made the United States as independent on the ocean as 
the Revolution had made us independent on land. The 
British never again tried to stop our ships or take any 
more American sailors out of them (§ 154). 

Since that war we have had no real trouble with Eng- 
land. To-day England and America are as good friends 
as if neither one had ever fired a gun at the other. 



1 84 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

While Madison was President we added two new states 
to the Union. They were Louisiana and Indiana. This 
made the whole number nineteen. 

165. Review. — Under President Madison, General 
Harrison fought the battle of Tippecanoe and completely 
whipped the Indians in that part of the West. 

Shortly after that, the United States declared war 
against England, — the War of 1 8 1 2. We fought because 
England stopped our merchant ships at sea and carried off 
American sailors from them. 

In the beginning of the war we got beaten on land, 
but our war ships gained almost every battle at sea and 
on the lakes. 

The last great battle of the war was fought by General 
Jackson at New Orleans. He cut the British army to 
pieces. After peace was made the English never again 
troubled our ships or carried off any of our sailors. We 
had made ourselves independent on the ocean, and we 
have always kept that independence. The stars and 
stripes are now as much respected on the sea as they are 
on land. 

JAMES MONROE, FIFTH PRESIDENT (1817-1825) 

166. Joy that peace was made Our fifth President 

was James Monroe. He had fought in the Revolution, 
and the gray-haired soldiers who had marched in the ranks 
with him welcomed him with shouts of joy. 

Every one was in good humor then, because every one 
was pleased to think that the War of 18 12 was over and 
that peace had been made (§ 163). Men did not say, 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



185 



Now, good times are coming ; but they said, The good times 
have come — and they meant every word they said. 

167. War with the Florida Indians ; we buy more land. 
— But in one way the peace did not last long, for the next 
year (1818) General Jackson (§ 163) had to go to Florida 
to fight the Indians there. He conquered them, and then 
the king of Spain thought that he had better sell Florida ^ 




The light parts of this map show the extent of the United States in 1819, after we had 
bought and added Florida. The black and white bars in the northwest show that 
the ownership of the Oregon Country was still in dispute between the United States 
and Great Britain 

to us (§§ 15, 107). He was afraid that if he kept it we 
should send more armies into that country to fight the 
Indians, and that he should have a great deal of trouble 
with us. 

We paid the Spanish king five millions of dollars for 
the country and so added the territory of Florida to the 
United States (1819) (see map above). 

1 England had given back Florida to Spain in 1783 (see page 109). 



l86 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

This was our second great land purchase. When we 
bought the Louisiana Country in 1803 (§ 151), that gave 
us an abundance of room to grow toward the west ; now that 
we had added Florida we could grow toward the south. 

168. How a troublesome question came up about Mis- 
souri, 1820. — Thus far, while Monroe was President, three 
new states had entered the Union, — Mississippi, Illinois, 
and Alabama, — making the whole number twenty-two. 

Of these twenty-two states eleven were at the North. 
They held no slaves, and for that reason they were called 
free states. The remaining eleven were at the South, 
and, as they owned negroes, they were called slave states. 

All of these twenty-two states, except the state of 
Louisiana, lay wholly on the east side of the Mississippi 
River. Up to that time nothing had ever been said about 
making a new state which should lie entirely on the west 
side of that river. 

But shortly after we bought the territory of Florida 
(§ 167), a part of Missouri territory, all of which was 
west of the Mississippi, asked to be admitted as a new 
state. It wished to hold slaves and to take the name of 
the state of Missouri. When Congress took up this ques- 
tion it roused more angry feelings than anything that had 
happened since America had gained its independence. 

This was because a great change had taken place at 
the North. Many of the people there had begun to think 
that it was wrong to hold black men as slaves. They were 
determined that all the rest of our territory lying west of 
the Mississippi River should be formed into free states. 

But the people of the South were just as determined 
to have their share of that territory for slave states. 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



187 



They were afraid that if they did not get it the North 
would become so strong that in time it would compel 
Congress to set every negro free. 

While this great dispute was going on between the North 
and the South about Missouri, Maine (§ 59) asked Congress 
to let her come in as a free state. 

The people of the South said, No. If we can't have 
Missouri, you people of the North shall not have Maine. 
If one must stay out, then both shall. 

169. What Henry Clay did about Missouri in 1820. — 
Henry Clay was a southern man and a member of Congress, 




The Missouri Compromise Act (1820) 

but he was a great peacemaker. He said. Don't let us 
quarrel about this any longer. Here is a plan which has 
been offered and which ought to satisfy both sides. 

I . Let Maine come in as ^ free state — that will please 
the North. 



i88 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



2. Let Missouri come in as a slave state — that will 
please the South. 

3. Then let Congress say that all the rest of the terri- 
tory west of the Mississippi, which lies north and west of 
the state of Missouri, shall be ix^^ forever. 

Congress agreed to this, and admitted Missouri and 
Maine. That made twenty-foiir states in all, — twelve free 
and twelve slave states (see map on page 187). So for 
a time North and South were both satisfied. This was 
called the Missouri Compromise^ of 1820 because each 
side promised to give up something to please the other. 




The National Road 



170. The United States builds a great road to the West. 

— But the spread of slavery was not the only question 
which people talked about in those days. There was 
another subject which seemed to many of them quite as 
important. Thousands of famihes in the East wanted to 
go into the country west of the Alleghany Mountains and 
buy farms there. 

They could get to certain parts of it by going down 
the Ohio River in barges or by steamboats (§ 155), but 
they wanted a road by which they could strike directly 
into the heart of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. No such 

1 Compromise (kom'pro-miz). 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED. STATES 189 

road then existed, though an attempt had been made to 
make one. The question came up whether Congress 
ought to build such a highway. 

The emigrants said Yes. The farmers who had already 
settled in that western country said Yes. The merchants 
at the East who wanted to get more western trade said 
Yes. But the President did not feel sure that Congrerss 




Traveling Westward over the National Road 



had the right to take the nation's money to build such a. 
road. A good many members of Congress thought as he 
did, so nothing was done at that time. 

Henry Clay again came forward (§ 169). He lived in 
Kentucky and he felt deeply interested in the whole West. 
He believed that Congress ought to do everything it pos- 
sibly could to help the growth of that part of the United 



I90 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

States. He begged earnestly that they would build a 
National Road from the Atlantic to the Mississippi 
River. Finally Congress decided to do it, and the work 
was pushed forward. The road never reached the Mis- 
sissippi; it only got about halfway across Illinois. But 
it helped many of the western states to grow to be 
greater and richer than even Henry Clay dared hope 
(see map on page i88). 

The people beyond the Alleghanies showed their grati- 
tude by putting up a monument to Clay. It stands by 
the roadside near Wheeling, West Virginia. It calls the 
great Kentuckian the ''Father of the National Road." 

171. Trade on the Western Rivers. — But while the 
new road was being built, and in fact long afterward, the 
people on the western rivers made great use of them for 
highways of trade. The Ohio and the Mississippi were 
crowded not only with steamboats but with huge flat- 
boats carrying corn, flour, and pork. When Abraham 
Lincoln was only seventeen he, with another boy, started 
off with a flatboat loaded with farm produce. They went 
down the Ohio and the Mississippi to New Orleans ; 
there they sold the stuff and the boat too.^ 

Then there were great rafts of boards and other lumber 
which were floated down these rivers and sold to build 
houses with. There were broad, square-built emigrant 
boats which carried families, with all their horses, cattle, 
and furniture. These emigrants had a merry time as they 
glided along on their way to a new home somewhere in 
what was then called the West. 

^ See the Life of Lincoln in Montgomery's " Beginner's American 
History " in this series. 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



191 



So, you see, these rivers were all alive with a rough, 
strong, good-natured, and good-hearted class of people. 
They could work their way or fight their way through 
anything, and they made that whole country hum with 
industry, as a hive of bees hums on a hot summer day. 




Flatboat with Emigrants going down the Ohio River 

172. << America for Americans.'* — We have seen how 
the people of the United States made themselves independ- 
ent of Great Britain on land by the War of the Revolution 
(§ 135), and on the ocean by the War of 18 12 (§ 165). 

But we did not rest even there, for now President Monroe 
claimed for America still another kind of independence. 

He said that the kings of Europe had no right to 
meddle with those parts of America which did not belong 
to them. England stood by us then, and said the same 
thing. If, for instance, the people of Mexico saw fit to 



192 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

set up a republic like our own, or if the people in South 
America wished to do so, then Spain must not try to 
stop them. 

America, said the President, belongs of right to Amer- 
icans, and Americans can take care of themselves, and. 
mean to take care of themselves.^ 

That was a new way of looking at this continent, but 
the king of Spain and all the other kings of Europe 
learned to accept it. In fact, to-day no one openly dis- 
putes the right of America to be let alone and to grow 
up in its own way. 

173. Lafayette comes to visit us (1824). — But there 
was at least one European who was sure of getting a 
hearty welcome in the United States. That was the 
brave and generous French soldier, Lafayette (§ 126). 
He had been the friend of Washington ; he had fought 
for us when he was a boy of nineteen; now he was an 
old man and he was coming to see us. 

He would find America had grown. When he left us 
at the close of the Revolution we had only thirteen states, 
now we had twenty-four. Lafayette visited every one of 
them. 

Wherever he went the people crowded about him with 
delight. The old soldiers who had fought under his com- 
mand shed tears of joy when they saw him and clasped 
him by the hand. Even the Indian chiefs that he had 
known were full of delight at seeing him once more. 

He had spent large sums of money to help us in our 
dark days. He had clothed and fed not a few of those 
who had been in his regiments.- But now he came to us 

1 This is called the Monroe Doctrine. 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 193 

poor. He had seen much trouble and he needed friends. 
We did not forget him. When he went back to France 
we sent him in one of our finest war ships. He went 
rich in the gifts of money which Congress made to him. 
But he went back richer still in the respect and affection 
which our whole country showed to him. 

174. Review. — While James Monroe was President we 
bought Florida and added it to the United States. We 
admitted the five new states of Mississippi, Illinois, Ala- 
bama, Maine, and Missouri to the Union, making twenty- 
four in all. 

We permitted Missouri to come in as a slave state, but 
on condition that all the rest of the territory north and 
west of it should remain free forever. We undertook to 
build a great National Road through the West to the 
Mississippi. We said, Europe must let the continent of 
America alone and let it grow up in its own way. We 
welcomed Lafayette as an old friend. Every state in the 
Union treated him as a guest of honor, and Congress gave 
him all that he needed for the comfort of his old age. 

JOPlN QUINCY ADAMS, SIXTH PRESIDENT (1825-1829) 

175. The opening of the Erie Canal, 1825 . — John Ouincy 
Adams was the sixth President we elected. We have seen 
(§ 170) that the people living in the eastern states had a 
great desire to open up ways for reaching the country 
west of the Alleghany Mountains. The construction of 
the National Road (§ 170) did much to help them; but 
the state of New York resolved to dig a canal reaching 
from the Hudson River to Lake Erie. 



194 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

In some ways this would be far better than a road, 
because it is always easier and cheaper to carry passen- 
gers and freight by water than by land. 

Gangs of laborers began to dig at Albany. After eight 
years of hard work the last shovelful of earth was thrown 
out, and the long ditch was completed, 1825. It ended 
at Buffalo, three hundred and sixty miles west of the 
Hudson. The canal was the greatest piece of work of 
the kind which had ever been done in the United States. 

People could now start from New York City by steam- 
boat (§ 155), go to Albany, step on board of a canal boat, 
and in less than a week they would arrive at Buffalo. That 
was quick traveling for those days. Then, if they liked, 
they could take a steamboat on Lake Erie and go to 
Cleveland, Ohio, or to Detroit, Michigan, or even as far 
west as Wisconsin — and that was then thought to be 
very far west indeed. 

Thousands of emigrants went west by the canal. A part 
of them pushed on beyond Buffalo and settled in the states 
which border on the Great Lakes. But many of them 
stopped at different places in New York. They built up 
the cities of Utica, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo, 
besides many smaller towns along the banks of the canal. 

The canal brought wheat and farm produce from the 
West to the East, and it helped in many ways to make 
New York the *' Empire State," — that is, the greatest 
state in population and wealth in the Union. 

176. Building the first iron road in America in 1830. — 
But now something was to be done which would make 
people forget to talk about canals (§ 175) or national 
roads (§ 170). 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



195 



Ever since Robert Fulton made the first trip up the 
Hudson by steamboat (§ 155), men had been trying to 
make a wagon which would go by steam. At length, after 
many failures, a locomotive was invented in England, and 
a railway was opened there connecting the two great 
cities of Manchester and Liverpool. 

When the news came to America, people here said, 
We need locomotives and iron roads quite as much as 




Passengers on a Canal Boat 



they do in England. Yes, we need them more than they 
do, because we have a country that is nearly forty times 
larger than England. 

While John Quincy Adams was President, a company 
began to build a railway from Baltimore toward the Ohio 
River. Peter Cooper of New York made the first engine 



196 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

which ran over the road in the year 1830. That railway 
was only thirteen miles long when it began business, and 
only about a dozen passengers dared to travel in a car 
that was drawn by steam. 

All the railways in the United States had their begin- 
ning in that little one started in Maryland. Now, look 




Opening the First Railway 

at the map on page 278, which shows the railways of 
America. You will see that the whole country is covered 
with tracks. They extend in every direction, like a great 
iron spider web. If the web was straightened out, as you 
would straighten out a piece of tangled string, it would 
reach more than two hundred and forty thousand miles. 
That means that it would go more than nine times around 
the world ; yet this line is still growing longer. 

177. Temperance reform. — President John Ouincy 
Adams took a lively interest in all improvements. He 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 197 

wanted to see better roads, better farms, and better schools. 
He wanted also to help men to lead better lives. 

One of the evils of that time was that most people drank 
a great deal of liquor. It was a common thing then for 
storekeepers to treat their customers to a glass of whisky 
or rum when they bought several dollars' worth of goods. 
Farmers, too, thought that they must give liquor to the 
men who worked for them in the hayfield. Again, when 
the frame of a new house or church was put up, some kind 
of strong drink would be served out by the pailful. 

This state of things led to a great deal of drunkenness. 
A number of good men of that day resolved to try to find 
a cure for this sad condition. They formed the American 
Temperance Society (1826), and this, with others, did much 
good. They certainly helped in many ways to make the 
world a better and a happier place for us all to live in. 

178. Review. — While John Ouincy Adams was Presi- 
dent the state of New York opened the great Erie Canal 
extending from Albany on the Hudson River to Buffalo on 
Lake Erie. It made traveling to the West far cheaper 
and easier ; it helped emigrants to go West, it brought 
wheat to the East, and it also helped to build up many 
cities and towns throughout New York state. 

A few years later the construction of the first railway 
was begun in the United States ; it was opened in the year 
1830. To-day the railways of America, if extended in a 
straight line, would reach more than nine times around 
the globe. 

President John Quincy Adams did everything he could 
to help on these improvements, and he also felt a great 
interest in temperance reform. 



198 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

ANDREW JACKSON, SEVENTH PRESIDENT (1829-1837) 

179. Our first western President. — All of the six Presi- 
dents that we had elected had come from the states 
east of the Alleghany Mountains.^ Andrew Jackson of 
Tennessee, our seventh President, was the first one who 
came from the country west of those mountains. 

General Jackson, or ''Old Hickory" as he was called 
at the West,^ was a great favorite with the people in 
that part of the country. A good many of them had 
helped him fight the Indians at different times, and others 
had been with him at the famous battle of New Orleans 

(§ 163). 

180. A new kind of newspaper appears (1831). — Gene- 
ral Jackson had been President less than two years when 
a new kind of newspaper came out in Boston (183 1). It 
was published by a young man of the name of Garrison.^ 
Garrison was so poor that he had to do all the work on 
the paper himself. He wrote all the articles, set them 
up in type, — for he was a printer by trade, — and printed 
them on a small press. He named his paper The Liberator 
because his object was to free the slaves in the South, 
and to free them at once. In the first number of TJie 
Liberator Mr. Garrison said, " I am in earnest . . . and I 
will be heard." 

Most of the people in the South who owned negroes 
said that the young man must be crazy. A great many 

1 Four came from Virginia (Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Mon- 
roe) and two from Massachusetts (John Adams and John Quincy Adams). 

2 See the Life of Andrew Jackson in Montgomery's " Beginner's 
American History " in this series. 3 William Lloyd (loid) Garrison. 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 199 

people in the North had the same feeling ; they said, Oh, 
this young printer is wrongheaded. But there were a 
few men who took his side. They replied, Well, at any 
rate, he is wrongheaded in the right direction. 

As time went on the excitement over The Liberator 
seemed to increase. Those who read it began to hold 
public meetings for setting the negroes free. Of course 
they did not mean to go South into the cotton fields, 
where the negroes were at work, and tell them they were 
at liberty and could stop picking cotton. But they meant 
to make everybody see that slavery was bad and that all 
slaves ought to have their freedom given them without 
waiting another day. 

Sometimes a crowd would rush in and break up these 
meetings, for many thought they did nothing but mis- 
chief. Once such a crowd got hold of Mr. Garrison and 
handled him very roughly. 

181. Talk about breaking up the Union — After a time 
a large number of societies were formed in the North which 
demanded that slavery should be done away with, or at 
least not allowed to spread any farther. The people who 
belonged to these societies said. Let us have no more 
slave states admitted to the Union ; then, perhaps, slavery 
will die out in the South. 

But Mr. Garrison was not satisfied. He said, We must 
not wait ; we must get rid of slavery now. If we can do 
nothing else, let us split the republic into two pieces. Let 
the slaveholding states go their way, and let the free 
states stand separate by themselves. 

But all the Northern people except a very few said No. 
They did not believe in breaking up the Union. They 



200 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

thought that it would be as foolish to do that as it would be 
for a farmer to burn his barns down to get rid of the rats. 

182. What South Carolina did about a tax (1832). — 
Now it happened that at the time the people of the North 
were disputing about slavery and the Union, the planters 
in South Carolina got into a dispute about the same sub- 
ject. But in the South it took a different form. 

The planters wanted to buy their woolen and cotton 
cloth for themselves and for their slaves in England, be- 
cause they could get such things cheaper there than in 
the North. But Congress had passed a law which put a 
tax of a certain number of cents on every yard of English 
cloth sent over here. This, of course, made it very expen- 
sive. The tax was called a protective tariff (§ 140). The 
object of it was to protect or help the mill owners at the 
North who manufactured woolen and cotton goods. 

John C. Calhoun was a South Carolina man and a 
member of Congress. He said, This tax is not fair, and 
it ought to be given up. The people of his state called a 
great meeting and resolved that they would refuse to pay 
the tax.^ Then they went further still and said, If Presi- 
dent Jackson tries to make us pay it we will leave the 
Union and make South Carolina an independent state all 
by herself. 

Here, then, we see the two sides. There were a few 
men at the North who felt ready to tear the country in 
two rather than have any slaves kept at the South (§ 181). 
But, on the other hand, there were some slaveholders in 
the South who declared that they would break up the 
Union rather than pay a tax they did not like. 

^This refusal to obey the law was palled Nullification. 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 201 

President Jackson said to the people of South CaroHna 
who had made the trouble, I was born in your state, but 
I shall do my duty by you just the same. You must 
obey the laws of the United States ; you must pay this 
tax or I shall send soldiers to make you. 

But just when it looked as if a real fight was coming, 
Henry Clay '' the peacemaker" again came forward (§ 169). 
He persuaded Congress to make the tax much lower. 
This satisfied South Carohna, and so the matter ended. 

183. Two new states added; growth of the West; 
Indian wars ; cheap farms. — While General Jackson 
was President two new states were added to the Union ; 
one was the slave state of Arkansas,^ the other was the 
free state of Michigan. This made twenty-six states in 
all, or just double the number with which the republic 
began not quite fifty years before. 

The Erie Canal (§ 175), the steamboats on the Great 
Lakes and the western rivers (§ 155), the National R©ad 
(§ 170), and the new railways (§ 176) all helped to fill up 
the West with people. 

The Indians in Illinois and in the territories of Wiscon- 
sin and Iowa fought hard to keep out the white people. 
But in every case they were beaten in the fight and had 
to give up more and more of their land. So too in the 
South the Indians were driven out of Florida and Georgia, 
and compelled to go across the Mississippi River. 

As fast as the Indians were conquered, emigrants from 
the eastern states would go West and take farms. The 
United States sold the land to them for a dollar and a quarter 
an acre. Think of getting a whole acre of land, on which 

1 Arkansas (ar'kan-sa'). 



202 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



twenty bushels of wheat could be raised, for half as much 
money as you would have to pay for a first-rate football ! 

It was that cheap land that made the West grow so 
fast. Farmers did not have to pay for it all at once. 
They could wait until they had sold wheat and pork enough 
to get the money. 

Another thing which made the West grow was that 
farmers could now do their work quicker. Mowing 




Old Fort Dearborn, Chicago 



machines and reaping machines had been invented, and 
these saved a great deal of labor and a great deal of time. 
184. Western towns. — While farms were increasing 
in number all through the northwest, villages were going 
up too. Buffalo, Cleveland, and Detroit were getting to 
be quite fair-sized places. Milwaukee ^ was a little town 
where a few people carried on trade with the Indians, but 
it was soon to grow larger. 

1 Milwaukee (mil-walce). 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 203 

Then at the southern end of Lake Michigan there was 
a wooden fort/ which when General Jackson became 
President had a few houses standing around it. No one 
then supposed that settlement would get to be much 
bigger. But Chicago,^ as the place was named, took a 
start just as a colt does, and began to grow, and it has kept 
on growing ever since. To-day it is the largest city in 
the United States except New York. 

185. Review. — General Andrew Jackson was the first 
western man who became President of the United States. 
Not long after he became President, Garrison began to 
publish TJie Liberator, a paper which demanded that all 
the slaves should be set free. This led to talk about 
breaking up the Union. 

About the same time some slaveholders in South Caro- 
lina threatened to break it up if the President should try 
to make them pay a tax on English goods. Henry Clay 
got Congress to make the tax lighter and so ended the 
difficulty. 

While General Jackson was President, the West grew 
very rapidly. The two new states of Arkansas and Mich- 
igan were added to the Union, making twenty-six in all, or 
just double the number with which the republic began. 



MARTIN VAN BUREN, EIGHTH PRESIDENT (1837-1841) 

186. Hard times and what they taught us. — Soon 
after Martin Van Buren became our eighth President 
(1837) the people everywhere began to complain of hard 
times. Factories and mills stopped running. Thousands 

1 Fort Dearborn. 2 Chicago (she-ka'go). 



204 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

of workingmen were thrown out of employment, and many- 
business men who had been making money found it dif- 
ficult to get a dollar. 

One reason for this distress was that when times had 
been good many people had run in debt for furniture, 
carpets, and clothes which they did not really need. 
Others had bought large pieces of land hoping to sell them 
again at a great profit, but they had been disappointed. 

In the country things were not as bad as they were in 
the cities. The farmers could always get enough to eat, 
for they could raise wheat, corn, and potatoes for them- 
selves. But in New York City crowds of men and women 
cried out that they could not get bread for themselves 
and their families. In several cases they broke into the 
stores and carried off flour and provisions to keep from 
starving. 

Luckily the hard times did not last very long. In 
some ways, too, that year (1837), which was often called 
the black year, proved at last to be a good friend. It 
taught a great many Americans a new Declaration of 
Independence, that was, to keep out of debt ; for the man 
who does that always feels that he is a free man. 

187. How America drew people from Europe ; ocean 
steamers. — Later on, great numbers of emigrants from 
Ireland, Germany, and other countries of Europe began 
to come to America. They were drawn here very much 
as a bunch of tacks is drawn to a magnet. If you put 
the magnet on the table near a little pile of tacks they 
will all fly to it and stick to it. So now, every young 
laboring man in Europe seemed to want to fly to this 
country. He felt it drawing him away from his old home. 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



205 



In Europe many of these hard-working people found it 
very difficult to get food and clothes. Some of them 
lived in little huts built of sticks and mud, with no floor 
but the earth. They were young and strong and full of 
hope. They knew that they could find plenty to do at 
good wages in America, so they made haste to come. 




Immigrants landing in America 

Lines of ships were crowded with them, but there was 
plenty of room out West. Thousands of them went there. 
They helped to build up the country. If they had not 
come the United States would not have as many people 
as it has to-day and it would not be nearly as strong and 
rich as it is. 

About the time these immigrants commenced to come 
in such large numbers, ocean steamers began to run 
regularly between New York and Liverpool (1840). For 



206 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

a number of years the immigrants came in sailing vessels, 
but after a time the steamers brought them over. Now 
they bring all who come. Sometimes a single steamship 
will land nearly two thousand here, or enough to make a 
pretty fair-sized country town. In the course of a year 
a great army arrives, oftentimes as many as five hundred 
thousand, or even more. 

The greater part of these people now come from Italy 
and other countries of southern Europe. Many of them 
get work building our new railways or digging coal in our 
coal mines. 

Lately Congress has passed laws which decide what 
immigrants may land here. We want all those who are 
healthy, strong, industrious, and honest. But we mean to 
send back the cripples, the beggars, the thieves, — in fact, 
all those who come here because the countries where they 
were born are glad to get rid of them. 

188. Review Shortly after Martin Van Buren became 

President very hard times set in, and thousands of people 
found it difficult to earn enough to live. But in the end 
the hard times helped a great many to learn to keep out of 
debt, and to save money which they once spent foolishly. 

Later, an immense number of laboring men began to 
come here from Europe. They made themselves homes 
at the West and were a great help to the country. 

The ocean steamers now bring hosts of immigrants. 
The United States intends to let in all who are worth 
having and to send the rest back. 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 207 

GENERAL WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON AND JOHN 

TYLER, NINTH AND TENTH PRESIDENTS 

(1841-1845) 

189. The election of General Harrison. — The people 
of the West had never forgotten General Harrison's 
victory over the Indians at Tippecanoe (§ 157). They 
now wanted to see this Indian fighter, who had lived in a 
log cabin in Ohio, go to the " White House." With shouts 
and songs of ''Tippecanoe and Tyler too," they elected 
him our ninth President, and made John Tyler of Vir- 
ginia Vice President, 

" General Harrison died a few weeks after he came into 
office and then, according to law, John Tyler took Gen- 
eral Harrison's place and became President. 

190. What Professor Morse succeeded in doing with 
electricity, 1844. — Three years later, in 1844, Professor 
Morse 1 of Massachusetts did a wonderful thing — one 
which the world will always remember. He had long 
been trying to find some way by which he could send 
messages quickly from one place to another. Of course 
letters could now be sent by the steam cars in much less 
than half the time that they could when Washington 
was living. 

But though steam was fast, it was too slow to satisfy 
Mr. Morse. He knew of something that could travel 
fifty miles — yes, a thousand miles if you like — before 
the wheels of the swiftest locomotive could turn around 
twice. That something was electricity. 

1 See the Life of Professor Morse in Montgomery's " Beginner's 
American History " in this series. 



2o8 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

But he did not know how to get electricity to carry the 
word he wanted to send. He spent more than ten years 
endeavoring to discover how that could be done. He was 
very poor, and he often had to go without his dinner, and 
sometimes, perhaps, without his supper besides. But he 
kept patiently at work, however hungry he might be, and 
at last he hit on the right way of doing what he sought. 
He did it in this way. He stretched a very long piece of 
wire from one place to another. Then he fastened a steel 
point to the farther end of the wire in such a manner that 
when he sent a current of electricity over it the steel 
point would move and would make a dot or a dash on a 
piece of paper. 

Now these dots and dashes stood for letters of the alpha- 
bet. One meant A, another meant B, and so through the 
whole list to Z. He could now spell out any word he 
pleased by electricity, so, of course, he could ask a ques- 
tion over the wire or he could send a message by it. 

191. Professor Morse builds the first line of Telegraph, 
1844 ; the Telephone (1877). — Professor Morse called this 
wonderful invention the telegraph. He asked Congress to 
give him thirty thousand dollars to build a telegraph line from 
Baltimore to Washington, a distance of about forty miles. 

Many members of Congress thought it would be a waste 
of money to do this. They did not believe the inventor 
could send a message over a wire as far as that. But 
finally, after a good deal of talking and a good deal of fun 
over it, they voted to let him have the thirty thousand 
dollars, and he built the telegraph line. 

It was the first one ever put up in the world. On a 
beautiful morning in the spring of 1844 Professor Morse 




Professor Morse sending the First Telegram 
209 



2IO ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

sent over the wire these words taken from the Bible, 
''What hath God wrought! "^ They were sent from the 
Capitol at Washington to Mr. Vail, Professor Morse's part- 
ner at Baltimore. Mr. Vail returned them to Washington. 
It was all done in a minute. Then every one knew that the 
telegraph was a success. To-day you can send a message 
in this way to any city in the United States, and to many 
other cities in the world. The telegraph wires cross our 
country in all directions, and they cross the bottom of the 
Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean to Europe, Asia, Africa, 
Australia, and New Zealand. More wonderful still, we can 
now send messages through the air by wireless telegraph. 

But in the meantime another remarkable instrument 
came into use; that was the telephone ^ (1877). It was 
invented by Professor Bell of Boston. It is a kind of tele- 
graph by which you can talk to a man in a building in the 
next street to you, or to a person three thousand miles 
away.^ He hears all you say, and you hear all he says. 

192. We get the <* Lone Star Republic,'* and admit a 
new southern state to the Union. — Within less than a 
year after Professor Morse sent his first electric message, 
we had added a new piece of land to the territory of the 
United States, and on the same day we admitted a new 
slave state to the Union. The new piece of land was 
Texas ; the new state (the twenty-seventh) was Florida. 

No one objected to letting Florida come in, for every 
one understood when we bought that territory (§ 167) 
that it would become a slave state. 

1 See the book of Numbers, xxiii. 23. The original message sent by 
Professor Morse can be seen in the Athenaeum in Hartford, Connecticut. 

2 Telephone (tel'e-fdn). ^ Or between New York and San Francisco. 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



211 



But with Texas the case was different. It once belonged 
to the republic of Mexico. But a good many Americans 
had gone there and had taken farms and bought negroes 
to work on them. Then the people of Texas declared 
themselves 'independent of Mexico. They made Sam 
Houston 1 President, and they raised a flag which had a 




Map showing the extent of the United States after we added Texas in 1845. 
The black and white bars show that the ownership of the Oregon Country- 
was still in dispute between the United States and Great Britain 



single star on it to show that they stood alone. They 
called themselves the '' Lone Star Republic." 

But Texas was not satisfied to stand alone long, for the 
people wished to join the United States. It was an immense 
country, large enough to cut up into five states as big as New 
York or Pennsylvania, and then have enough land left over 
to make a state more than twice as large as Massachusetts. 

1 See the Life of Sam Houston in Montgomery's " Beginner's American 
History " in this series. 



212 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Most of the members of Congress from the South were 
eager to get such a country as that, because they hoped 
that it would be divided into a number of slave states, 
and they naturally wanted as many such states as they 
could get (§ 1 68). 

But many of the northern members of Congress were 
determined to keep Texas out if they could. There were 
two reasons for this feeUng. First, some of them believed 
that slavery was wrong, that it did a great deal of harm, 
and that it ought not to be allowed to spread to any new 
land. Next, there were others who did not care much 
about slavery, but they felt certain that if we admitted 
Texas we should get into a war with Mexico, and they 
did not want war. 

This difference of feeling made a hot dispute between 
the North and the South, just as there had been about the 
admission of Missouri many years before (§ i68). Well, 
the South gained the day. Texas was annexed, or added, 
to the United States. It made the third great piece of 
land we had added (§§ 15 i, 167) ; we shall see that under 
the next President it was admitted as a slave state ^ 
(see map on page 211). 

193. Review. — In 1844 Professor Morse built the first 
line of telegraph in the world. It extended from Balti- 
more to Washington. He sent the first message over it 
in the spring of that year. Since then lines of telegraph 
have been constructed all over the United States, and car- 
ried across the Atlantic and Pacific to Europe, Asia, Africa, 
Australia, and New Zealand. The telephone, invented by 

1 Texas was annexed under President Tyler, March 3, 1S45; ^^ "^'^s ad- 
mitted to the Union December 29 of the same year, under President Polk. 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



213 



Professor Bell a good many years later, now makes it 
possible to talk with people over very long distances. 

While John Tyler was President we annexed Texas, and 
added Florida to the number of slave states in the Union. 
Texas was the third great piece of land we had added. 
The whole number of states was now twenty-seven. 



JAMES K. POLK, ELEVENTH PRESIDENT (1845-1849) 

194. ' ' Give us Oregon ! " — The first question which 
came up after James K. Polk ^ became our eleventh Pres- 
ident was about the Oregon Country. 

You remember that while Washington was President, Cap- 
tain Robert Gray of Rhode Island sailed into the Columbia 




Captain Gray taking Possession of Oregon 

River. Hq raised the stars and stripes there, and declared 
that Oregon belonged to the United States (§ 1 52). 

1 Polk (p5k). 



214 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



That was the way we got our first claim to any part of 
the Pacific coast. Then a httle more than ten years later, 
Lewis and Clark explored that country by sailing down 
the Columbia (§ 152). That gave us our second claim to 
Oregon. Still later, a number of Americans went out 
there and settled. These things made us consider that 
the whole of that great region through which the Columbia 
River flows was the property of the United States (see 

map below). 

But England said that 
we had made a mistake. 
The king declared (1836) 
that most of that region 
belonged to him because 
some English fur hunters 
had visited it before 
Captain Gray did. 

This dispute had been 
going on for years. It 
now came up hotter than ever, because a good many 
members of Congress thought that we ought some time to 
add Oregon as a free state in order to balance the slave 
state of Texas (§§ 192, 196). 

Then many people began to cry out, " Give us Oregon 1 
Give us the whole of Oregon, or we will fight ! " But luckily 
no fighting had to be done, for the United States and 
Great Britain came to an agreement (1846), and divided 
Oregon between them (see map above). We obtained all 
that part of the country through which the Columbia River 
actually flows, and England got the territory north of it. 
This made the fourth great piece of land we had added to 




GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



215 



the American republic since the Revolution i(§§ 151, 167, 
192). By looking on the map below, you will see that 
it made the northern part of the. United States extend 
through to the Pacific Ocean. 

195. War begins with the Republic of Mexico (1846). — 
But the year we got the Oregon question settled, trouble 
began with the republic of Mexico. When Texas was 




Map showing the extent of the United States after we added the 
Oregon Country in 1 846 

annexed to the United States (§ 192) the people of that 
territory declared that it was bounded on the west by 
the Rio Grande 2 River. But Mexico said that Texas 
had no right to any part of the country farther west than 
the Nueces River .^ This made a difference of about a 



1 First Louisiana was added in 1803, then Florida in 1819, then Texas in 
1845, and now Oregon in 1S46. See the maps on pages 168, 185, 211,215. 

2 Rio Grande (re'o gran'da). ^ Nueces (nwa'ses). 



2l6 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

hundred miles (see map on page 217). Rather than give 
up that narrow strip of land we resolved to fight. 

We sent General Taylor with an army to take posses- 
sion of the land which Texas claimed as hers, and war 
began in the spring (1846). 

General Taylor ,1 or " Old Rough and Ready," as his 
men liked to call him, gained every battle which he fought. 
By so doing he got possession of all that part of Mexico 
near the lower end of the Rio Grande River. 

The next year General Taylor came home, and General 
Scott 2 went out by sea with a second army. He took 
the Mexican city of Vera Cruz,^ on the coast of the Gulf 
of Mexico (see map on page 217). Then, fighting his way, 
he pushed on westward across the mountains until at last 
he entered the City of Mexico, which was the capital. 

There he raised the stars and stripes over the palace 
where the Mexican president lived. That victory ended 
the war. General Scott, like General Taylor, had defeated 
the Mexicans in every battle. So in this remarkable war 
our soldiers had everything their own way from the begin- 
ning to the end. 

There were three young American officers who fought 
in that war that we shall hear of, by and by, in a far more 
terrible war (§ 217). We may as well get their names now. 
They were Lieutenant^ Ulysses S. Grant, Lieutenant Jef- 
ferson Davis, and Colonel^ Robert E. Lee. 



1 General Zachary Taylor of Louisiana. 

2 General Winfield Scott of Virginia. 

3 Vera Cruz (va'ra kroos). 

* Lieutenant (lu-ten'ant), an officer next below a captain. 
6 Colonel (kur'nel), the commander of a regiment. 



, R E G 







itreraa La Pueblakfe 



Map No. I. The Mexican War. Map No. II. Scott's March to the City of Mexico. 

Note. Texas claimed that her territorj' extended to the Rio Grande River on the west; 
but Mexico insisted that Texas had no right to any land west of the Nueces River. 
You will see on map No. I that Corpus Christi, on the Gulf of Mexico, is at the mouth 
of the Nueces River, and that Pt. Isabel is at the mouth of the Rio Grande. The strip 
of territory between these two rivers was the land which Texas and Mexico both claimed 



217 



2l8 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



Then all three were fighting on the same side and under 
the same flag. But when we meet them again (in the Civil 
War (§ 217)) we shall find Grant still fighting under the 
stars and stripes, while we shall see Davis sending Lee, 
under a strange flag, to attack him (see pages 243 and 244). 

196. We add more land to the United States, 1848 ; three 
new states admitted. — When peace was made, Mexico 




Map showing the extent of the United States in 1 848, after Mexico let us have 
California and New Mexico 



gave us an immense tract of land. It extended from the 
Pacific coast eastward to the Rocky Mountains. You 
will see by the map above that it included not only all 
of California,^ but also Utah ^ and Nevada,^ besides parts 
of New Mexico, Colorado,^ Wyoming,^ and Arizona.^ 
This was the fifth addition we had made to the territory of 



1 California (kaH-for'ni-a). 

2 Utah (u'ta). 

8 Nevada (ne-va'da). 



* Colorado (kSro-ra'do). 
^ Wyoming (wt-6'ming). 
® Arizona (ar-i-z6'na). 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



219 



the United States since Washington's day (§§ 151, 167, 
192, 194). A few years later (1853), we added a sixth 
piece/ which we bought of Mexico, and which was called 
the Gadsden 2 Purcha.se — because General James Gads- 
den bought the land for us. 

By this time, too, we had admitted three more states to the 
Union, namely Texas, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Texas was the 




This map shows the extent of the United States in 1 853, after we had added the 
land called the Gadsden Purchase, bought from Mexico ; the land is marked, 
on the map, "1853 " 

last slave state which came in. We now had thirty states 
in all, besides a vast western territory which could be cut 
up into more. The American republic, in nearly its whole 
height from north to south, now stretched across the conti- 
nent from the Atlantic to the Pacific (see map above). 

1 We added the Louisiana Country in 1803, Florida in 181 9, Texas in 
1845, the Oregon Country in 1846, and now the territory obtained from 
Mexico in 1848, and in 1853 by the "Gadsden Purchase" (see maps on 
pages 168, 185, 211, 215, 218, 219). 2 Gadsden (gadz'den). 



220 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



197. What we discovered in California (1849). — Not 

long after we came into possession of the territory of Cali- 
fornia (§ 196), something very remarkable happened there. 
Captain Sutter,^ who had a large farm in that country, 
began building a sawmill on a little stream ^ about a hun- 
dred miles from San Francisco.^ 

One of the men at work there was walking along through 
a ditch which had been dug for the water to run off, when 
he saw some bits of bright yellow metal shining in the dirt. 

He picked them up, and said 
to himself, This looks like gold. 
He took it where it could be 
carefully examined, and it 
proved to be just what it looked 
like, for it really was gold. 

As soon as the news got 
abroad, nearly every white man 
in California made a rush for 
the place where the gold had 
been found. They soon began digging in all directions. 
In most cases they discovered small pieces of the precious 
metal in the sand and gravel. Then the diggers grew 
wild when it became certain that they could pick up 
money, or what was as good as money, out of the earth 
on which they stood. 

198. The rush to California by sea and by land. — It 
took some time for the wonderful news to get to the East, 
for in those days there was no regular mail which carried 



Id 


■^ 


1 / 




1 > 


S 


3I 


Colonj^^ 


_X 


Sutter's Ft> 
now Sacramentoi 


\ 


.^ 


c^ 






XH 


Francisco 


%.. 


^ %. K 


^ 


_^_ 



1 Sutter (sut'er). 

2 It was at Coloma (kc-lo'ma) on a branch of the American River (see 
map above). ^ San Francisco (san fran-sls'ko). 




Finding Gold in California. 

221 



222 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



letters across the continent. But when the papers 
throughout the United States began to pubUsh accounts 
of what had been found in California the excitement 
became very great. 

Thousands of young men left farms, stores, and facto- 
ries, and started for the new "land of promise." Others 
took their families and followed. All of them hoped to 
bring back riches. 

Many of the gold seekers went by sea to San Francisco. 
That was a terribly hard journey, because they had to go 




/■ 



k 






Gold Seekers on their Way to California 

by ship around Cape Horn, or else across the Isthmus ^ of 
Panama^ (see map on page 275). If they chose the first 
way, it meant a voyage of more than twelve thousand 
miles, and they might be nearly a year getting there. If 
they chose the second they got there in much less time. 
But they suffered dreadfully on the Isthmus as they climbed 
over the rocks where the hot sun made many of them sick. 
Those who went across the country from the eastern 
states did not find the journey any easier. After they 
had reached the Mississippi River they still had nearly 

1 Isthmus (is'mus). ^ Panama (pan-a-ma'). 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



223 



W 



two thousand miles to go. There were no railways then 
west of the Mississippi. The emigrants had to travel as 
best they could. Some went on horseback, some in wagons 
drawn by mules or oxen, and some toiled along on foot. 

They were forced to cross 
immense plains where water was 
often very difficult to find. They 
had next to make their way 
through the wild region of the 
Rocky Mountains, where there 
were no good roads, where food 
was scarce, and 
where the Indians 
were ready to kill 
every white man 
they possibly could. 
Last of all they had 
to cHmb the steep 
Sierra ^ Mountains, 
which shut in Cali- 
fornia on the east 
like a lofty wall; 
and even then, after 
they had got so far, 
they still had some distance farther to go before they 
reached the diggings (see maps on pages 217 and 220). 

But no hardship, no suffering, no danger could stop 
these men. Day after day the long line kept crawling 
along toward the Pacific. It was easy to see which way 
they went, for their track was marked by the white bones 

1 Sierra (se-er'ra). 




Washing Gold out of the Dirt 



224 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

of the horses and mules and oxen which had dropped dead 
from toil or from hunger. 

In a single year's time nearly a hundred thousand people 
had entered the territory of California. No such emigra- 
tion to any new part of the United States had ever been 
known before. In five years the miners had dug out of 
the earth between four and five hundred millions of dollars' 
worth of gold. 

199. Opening up other parts of our <<New West*' ; emi- 
grants to Oregon and to Utah. — But California was not 
the only part of our " new West " which drew people to 
it. A number of years before gold was found there, emi- 
grants had begun to go out to the Oregon Country (§ 194). 
They had taken up farms in the valley of the Columbia 
River and had commenced to build up that region. 

Still later, the Mormons ^ left Illinois and Iowa ^ and 
went west to Utah. They did not emigrate in search of 
riches, but because they wanted to go where they could 
build up a state to suit themselves. At that time Utah 
was a wilderness, with no white people living in it. 

The Mormons built their first homes in a desert as dry 
as ashes. It seemed impossible to raise wheat or corn in 
such a soil as that. But the new settlers dug trenches 
which brought down little streams of running water from 
the mountains. They worked very hard, and in the course 
of time they completely changed the looks of everything. 
They had farms covered with fields of grain, and pasture 

1 The Mormons held very different ideas about religion from what 
other people did. The people of the East disliked them, and when they 
drove them out from Illinois most of the Mormons went to Utah. 

2 Iowa (rS-wa). 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 225 

lands green with waving grass, and orchards full of apples 
and other fruit. The farmers, too, raised herds of cattle 
and sheep, and every one seemed to live comfortably and 
to get plenty to eat. The Mormons called their largest 
settlement Salt Lake City, because it was built not very 
far from the Great Salt Lake (see map on page 218), 

200. Settlements made in Kansas, Nebraska, and Colo- 
rado ; the << pony express " ; the telegraph. — Some years 



Mormons going West 

after the Mormons went out to Utah, and after President 
Polk had gone out of office, people began to move to 
Kansas territory and. to build towns there. ^ Leaven- 
worth,^ Topeka,^ and Lawrence were three which soon 
became well known. In like manner emigrants went into 
Nebraska^ territory and made settlements there. They 

1 Read W^hittier's " Song of the Kansas Emigrant." 

2 Leavenworth (lev'en-worth). 

3 Topeka (to-pe'ka). * Nebraska (ne-bras'ka). 



226 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



built Omaha/ Lincoln, and many smaller towns (see map 
opposite page 305). The first postmaster in Omaha began 
by carrying the mail around in his hat, but he soon had to 
find something bigger. When gold was found in Colorado 
territory (1858) great numbers of people hurried to the 
spot. They began a little settlement which grew to be 
the city of Denver (see map opposite page 305). 

Soon a line of stagecoaches started running between 
Leavenworth, Kansas, and Denver. Besides taking pas- 
sengers these stages carried small parcels of goods which 
the miners sent to the East to get. 

Meanwhile the people in California wanted to send their 
letters to the East and get letters back iu shorter time. 




Pony Express across the Plains 

The stage company put a " pony express " on the road 
to help them. The men or boys who rode these ponies 
carried the mail. They made their horses fly as rapidly 
as whip and spur could urge them on. 

1 Omaha (5'ma-ha'). 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



227 



Each rider went a certain number of miles and then 
stopped, while a fresh rider on a fresh horse seized the 
mail bag and hurried on with it. In this way they trav- 
eled two hundred and fifty miles a day until they reached 




Indians attacking Overland Stage 

the end of the road at Sacramento,^ California, if they 
were going westward, or at St. Joseph, Missouri, if they 
were coming toward the east. The whole distance was 
very nearly two thousand miles. 

This went on for about two years, and then a tele- 
graph line was completed across the continent (1861). 
Then, of course, many people used that, for an electric 
wire could beat everything else at carrying the news or 
delivering a message. 

1 Sacramento (sak-ra-men'to), the capital of California. 



228 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

201. The overland stage to California But in order 

to accommodate passengers, a line of stagecoaches now 
began to run from Leavenworth, Kansas, across the coun- 
try to California. Each of these coaches was drawn by 
six mules. 

The passengers carried rifles and revolvers to fight the 
Indians. Colonel William F. Cody, who is better known 
as "Buffalo Bill," drove one of "these stages. He says 
that they had to fight white savages sometimes, as well as 
red ones, for highway robbers used, once in a while, to try 
to stop the coach. 

When the people on the coach were attacked they had 
to race for their lives. The driver cracked his whip 
like a pistol and lashed his galloping mules. The coach 
bounced and rocked, like a ship in a gale, as it flew over 
stones and through deserts of dust. The yelling savages 
fired at it from all sides ; the passengers fired back ; each 
tried his best to kill the other. That helped to make 
up a day's life in some parts of what was then called the 
** Wild West." 

202. Building the first Pacific railway (1869). — After 
five or six years had gone by, the people of the United 
States made up their minds that the overland stage had 
done its full work. They said. Now we must have a rail- 
way to the Pacific. In order to get on faster with it, men 
began building the iron road at both ends. One gang of 
laborers commenced at Omaha, Nebraska, while the other 
was digging up the ground at Sacramento, California. 

The great Pacific Railway was finished in 1869, or twenty 
years after President Polk's time. When the wild Indians 
saw how the locomotive could get over the ground, and 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 229 

heard the war whoop it could give, they stepped back. 
They felt that the time had come when they must let the 
white man go where he liked and do as he liked. 

Since that time four more Pacific railways have been 
built/ They have carried settlers by tens of thousands 
and hundreds of thousands into the "new West." If you 
look on the map on page 278, you will see how many 
states these five great railways run through. The loco- 
motive and the iron road made those states. They were 
built up by steam, 

203. Review. — While James K. Polk was President 
we made a treaty, or agreement, with Great Britain by 
which we got possession of Oregon territory. 

That same year (1846) we began war with Mexico in 
order to get a strip of land which Texas claimed as hers. 
We gained every battle we fought in that war ; when peace 
was made, Mexico gave us an immense tract of land. 
It included California, Utah, and Nevada, besides parts of 
New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Wyoming. It was the 
fifth piece of land we had added to the United States. 

We also admitted the three new states of Texas, Iowa, 
and Wisconsin. This made thirty states in all. 

Shortly before peace was made with Mexico, gold was 
discovered in California. It caused a great rush of people 
to that territory, and so we began making settlements on 
that part of the Pacific coast. Such settlements had 
already been begun in Oregon, and the Mormons had 
built Salt Lake City in Utah. 

1 The first railway was the Union, and Central Pacific ; the four, built 
later, were the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe ; the Southern Pacific ; 
the Northern Pacific ; and the Great Northern. 



230 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

After James K. Polk was no longer President, emi- 
grants began to pour into Kansas and Nebraska terri- 
tories, and later into Colorado. A " pony express " was 
started across the western country to California. Then 
came the telegraph and a line of stagecoaches, and last of 
all, the first Pacific Railway was built. It was followed 
by four other iron roads. These five great railways opened 
up the ''new West " and filled it with people. 



ZACHARY TAYLOR AND MILLARD FILLMORE, 
TWELFTH AND THIRTEENTH PRESIDENTS 

(1849-1853) 

204. The dispute about California. — Not long after 
General Taylor (§ 195) became our twelfth President, 
California asked to be admitted to the Union as a free 
state. 

President Taylor had a plantation in Louisiana, and he 
owned several hundred negroes, but he wanted California 
to come in free. He thought that America would be 
better off not to have another slave state added. Henry 
Clay (§ 182) was a slaveholder in Kentucky, and he felt 
as President Taylor did. He had once believed in extend- 
ing slavery at the West (§ 169), but he had come to think 
that it was a mistake. 

But John C. Calhoun of South Carolina (§ 182), and 
many other southern members of Congress, did not agree 
with the President or with Henry Clay. They wanted 
to see California, and all the rest of the territory we had 
got from Mexico, made into slave states. They believed 
tliat slavery was a good thing. They thought that every 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 231 

black man ought to have a master who would keep him 
at work raising cotton, rice, sugar, and tobacco. 

Most of the northern members of Congress felt as 
Abraham Lincoln did. He said. No man is good enough 
to own another man. Every one, no matter how black his 
skin may be, has the right to all that he honestly earns. 

Last of all, there were a few northern members of 
Congress who did not care whether the negro was held 
in bondage or whether he was set free. They said, Let 
the people of each new state, when it comes into the 
Union, decide for themselves whether they will hold 
slaves or not. 

205. Henry Clay's plan for settling the dispute; the 
Compromise of 1850. — While this dispute was going on 
Henry Clay came forward, for the third time, to make 
peace (§§ 169, 182) by another compromise (see page 188). 

He said. Let each side promise to give up something 
to the other, and then we shall settle this troublesome 
question. Then he told Congress what his plan of com- 
promise was. It was made up of these three parts. 

1 . Let California come in as a free state ; that will 
satisfy the people of the North. 

2. Let the people of all the rest of the territory which 
Mexico gave us ^ decide for themselves whether they wish 
to come into the Union as free states or as slave states ; 
that will satisfy them, and it will satisfy some members 
of Congress besides. 

3. Let Congress make a new slave law,^ which shall 
make it easy for slaveholders to catch their runaway 

1 That is, in Utah, Nevada, and the remainder of the territory which we 
got from Mexico (§ 196). 2 xhig was the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. 



232 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



negroes at the North and take them back where they 
belong ; that will satisfy the South. 

206. Congress accepts Henry Clay* s Compromise ; Cali- 
fornia is admitted (1850) Daniel Webster of Massa- 
chusetts thought that Henry Clay's plan of settling the 
dispute was an excellent one. He did everything in his 




Henry Clay speaking for the Compromise 



power to persuade Congress to accept it. He said that it 
was the only way in w4iich the Union could be kept together. 
On the other hand, John C. Calhoun (§§ 182, 204) 
fought Clay's plan with all his might. He said it did not 
do enough for the South. He declared that if Congress 
accepted it America would split into two republics. One 
of these would be made up of free states and the other of 
slave states ; they would hate each other and make war 
upon each other 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 233 

But Congress thought that Clay and Webster were 
right. They beheved that Clay's plan was the best that 
could then be contrived. They voted for it, and peace 
was made. But before they did that, President Taylor 
had died and Vice President Fillmore had become our 
thirteenth President. This was in the year 1850. Cali- 
fornia was admitted before the year was over. It made 
the thirty-first state. 

207. Review. — When General Taylor became Presi- 
dent, California asked to be admitted as a free state. The 
South opposed this. Congress disputed about it for a 
long time, and at last, after President Taylor had died 
and Vice President Fillmore had become President, it 
accepted Henry Clay's plan of compromise. Then Cali- 
fornia was admitted as the thirty-first state in the Union. 
It came in free, as the people there wished it to do. 



FRANKLIN PIERCE, FOURTEENTH PRESIDENT 

(1853-1857) 

208. The new territories of Kansas and Nebraska ; the 
people begin to quarrel about slavery again. — The year 
after Franklin Pierce became our fourteenth President a 
fresh quarrel about slavery came up (§ 206). 

You remember that when Congress agreed to admit 
Missouri as a slave state it was on a certain condition. 
That condition was that all the land north and west of 
Missouri should remain irto. forever (§ 169). That was in 
the year 1820. In 1854 the broad, level country northwest 
of the state of Missouri was called the Platte Cduntry,^ 

1 Platte (plat). 



234 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

because the Platte River, a branch of the Missouri, ran 
through it (see map on page 217). Some people thought 
that the best use we could make of it would be to give it 
to the western Indian as a sort of *' happy hunting ground." 

But Stephen A. Douglas,^ who was a member of Con- 
gress 2 from Illinois, did not think that would be the best 
plan. He said, The Platte Country is too good to give to 
the Indians ; let us take it and divide it into two new terri- 
tories. We will call the northern territory Nebraska, and 
the southern territory Kansas. Then we will leave it to 
the people of these two territories to decide whether they 
will have slaves or not. 

Many of the people at the North cried out against this. 
They said, Congress has no right to make these two new 
territories and then tell the inhabitants that they can do as 
they like about having slaves. Congress solemnly promised 
in 1 820 that all that part of the United States should remain 
free for all time (§ 169). That promise must be kept. 

But Senator^ Douglas replied, When Congress agreed 
to do that it made a mistake. We believe that the peo- 
ple who live in a territory must know better than any 
one else whether they want slaves or don't want them. 

Those who thought Senator Douglas was right out- 
numbered the others, so Congress finally voted in 1854 
to do what he asked them. The two new territories of 
Kansas and Nebraska were made (see map on page 235), 
and it was left to the inhabitants to bring in negroes or 
keep them out, just as they saw fit. But trouble soon 
began, and it commenced in Kansas. 

1 Douglas (dug'lass). ^ Senator (sen'a-ter). 

2 He was a member of the United States Senate. 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



235 



209. The emigration to Kansas from Missouri and from 
Massachusetts. — Senator Douglas supposed that the 
farmers who went into the territory of Kansas would 
call a meeting, or convention, and quietly vote Yes or 
No about having slaves. 

But everything turned out differently from what he 
imagined. If you look on the map below, you will see 




Territory opened to Slavery by the " Kansas-Nebraska " Act of 1854 



that Kansas territory lay directly west of the slave state 
of Missouri. As soon as Congress passed the law of 
which we have been speaking (§ 208), hundreds of slave- 
holders in Missouri armed themselves with rifles and re- 
volvers and crossed the boundary line into Kansas. They 
at once began to lay out farms and plantations there. 
Then they commenced building the town of Atchison.^ 

1 Atchison (achl-son). 



2^6 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

They intended to make it the capital of a new slave state. 
Next, bands of emigrants started from Massachusetts to 
go to Kansas. They brought their rifles and revolvers, 
and began to build the town of Lawrence. They were 
determined that Kansas should be free and that no slave 
should ever do a day's work there. 

210. << Bleeding Kansas.'' — At night you could see the 
flaming camp fires of these two parties, just as you might 
see the camp fires of two armies that were getting ready 
for battle. 

When the Massachusetts emigrants caught sight of a 
Missouri man they would shout out, " Border Ruffian " ^ ; 
and when the Missouri emigrants saw a newcomer from 
the East they would yell, *< Black Republican." ^ 

But the two parties did not stop with calling each other 
nicknames. They soon began to burn each other's houses 
and to shoot each other at sight. In this way a kind of 
war broke out. Instead of settling the question of hav- 
ing slavery in the territory by voting upon it, both sides 
seem to have made up their minds to settle it by bullets. 

For a long time no one's life or property was safe in 
that part of the country. Fighting, and nothing but fight- 
ing, was going on. So many people were killed that the 
new territory used to be called *' Bleeding Kansas." 

211. Review. — While Franklin Pierce was President, 
Stephen A. Douglas persuaded Congress to make the two 

1 The nickname " Border Rufifian " was given to the Missouri slave- 
holders because they came over the border, or boundary, from their state 
into Kansas territory. 

2 " Black Republican " was the nickname given by the southern slave- 
holders to all those who were friends to the negro and opposed to keeping 
him in slavery. 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



237 



new territories of Kansas and Nebraska. They lay west 
and north of the state of Missouri, and Congress had 
promised many years before that all that country should 
remain free forever (§ 169). 

But when Congress made these new territories, it gave 
the people living in them the right to say whether they 
would have slaves or not. Emigrants from Missouri, 
which was a slave state, went to Kansas, intending to 
make that a slave state too. Emigrants from Massachu- 
setts went there determined to keep Kansas free. The 
two parties were soon at open war with each other, and 
Kansas became a battle ground. 

JAMES BUCHANAN, FIFTEENTH PRESIDENT 
(1857-1861) 

212. Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas hold 
a great debate about slavery (1858). — After James 
Buchanan ^ became our fifteenth President, Abraham 
Lincoln of Illinois (§ 204) and Stephen A. Douglas 
(§ 208) of the same state both wanted to be chosen to 
go to Congress. 2 They agreed to hold a number of 
public meetings in which each would try to show that 
he was the best man for the place. 

They went about speaking to immense crowds. No 
building was big enough to accommodate all who wanted 
to hear these two great men, so they spoke in the fields. 

1 Buchanan (buk-an'an). 

2 Stephen A. Douglas was then Senator from IlHnois, and he wished 
to be reelected. Abraham Lincoln had been a member of the House of 
Representatives, but he now wished to become a Senator. 



238 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

The subject about which they talked was Kansas and 
slavery (§§208-210); for everybody then was deeply 
interested in that question, and they all wanted to hear 
what Mr. Douglas and Mr. Lincoln had to say in regard 
to it. Not only the people in the towns but those living 
far back in the country came eagerly to attend these meet- 
ings. Farmers would bring their families for miles to listen 
to the two smartest men that there were in the state. 

Senator Douglas said, Half of the states in the Union 
are slaveholding states. They have the same rights as 
the free states have. The territory of the United States 
belongs as much to one as to the other. ^ For myself I 
do not care whether Kansas comes in with slaves or with- 
out them. I say, let the people who are there decide this 
for themselves. That is the only way in which we shall 
ever get the matter finally settled. 

Abraham Lincoln said, No farmer can plow a field 
with a pair of horses which are pulling in opposite direc- 
tions. Neither can the American republic remain forever 
half slave states and half free states, pulling against each 
other. The time must come when we shall become either 
all free or all slave. 

Slavery is a bad thing. It makes trouble where it now 
is, and it makes trouble wherever it goes. For this reason 
it is the duty of Congress to refuse to let any more slave 
states come into the Union. 

The greater part of the people in Illinois thought at 
that time that Senator Douglas was a safer man to follow 

1 The Supreme Court of the United States had recently decided 
(1857) that Congress could not prevent slaveholders from taking their 
slaves into any territory. 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



239 



than Abraham Lincoln. Because they thought so they 
sent Senator Douglas back to Congress. But Abraham 
Lincoln's success was coming a little later, only it was 
coming in a way that no one then could clearly see. 

213. What John Brown tried to do (1859) ; three new- 
states added. — A year after this great debate (§ 212) an 



'"^K' 



,.. , X 

















Harper's Ferry 



old man who had been fighting in Kansas against slavery 
(§ 210) resolved to go East and set the negroes free in 
Virginia. His name was Brown, and as he was getting 
gray he was commonly called '* Old John Brown." 

Before he went out to Kansas he had been a farmer in 
northern New York. He hated the new Fugitive Slave 



240 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Law (§ 205) which Daniel Webster had voted for, and so 
he had spent a good deal of his time in helping runaway 
negroes to get into Canada. 

He now went to Harper's Ferry, Virginia (1859), and one 
night he set out with a small band of men to liberate the 
slaves near there. But as soon as the alarm was given, 
soldiers were sent to seize John Brown and his comrades. 
After some hard fighting they took him and six of his men 
and put them in prison in Charlestown, Virginia.^ The 
old man was tried, found guilty of murder, and hanged. 

Very few people in the North, not even among those 
who hated slavery most, thought that John Brown had 
done what was wise and right. They did not believe in 
trying to set -the negroes free by using guns to do it. 
They had no intention of meddling with the southern 
states. What they wanted to do was simply to prevent 
slavery from getting possession of the new country west 
of the Mississippi River. 

Meanwhile two more states had come into the Union. 
They were Minnesota and Oregon. A third state soon 
followed ; it was Kansas, and, after all the fighting which 
had gone on there (§ 210), it came in free like the other two. 
This made the entire number of states thirty-four {1861). 

214. Abraham Lincoln elected President, i860; the state 
of South Carolina leaves the Union (i860). — Not quite 
twelve months after John Brown was executed (§ 213), 
Abraham Lincoln ^ (§ 212) was, elected President of the 
United States. This election took place early in November, 

1 Charlestown is now in West Virginia. 

2 See the Life of Lincoln in Montgomery's " Beginner's American His 
tory " in this series. 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 241 

i860, and President Buchanan would not go out of office 
until March, 1861. Those who voted for Lincoln in the 
North did so because they believed that he would do all 
he could to keep slavery confined to the states where it 
then was. 

At the South no one voted for him, because the people 
there naturally wanted a President who would help slavery 
to grow stronger and to spread farther. 

It will be remembered that when General Jackson was 
President, South Carolina threatened to secede,^ or leave 
the Union (§182). As soon as it was known that Lin- 
coln was elected, the people of that state made up their 
minds to secede ; that is, they resolved not to stay in the 
Union any longer. The reason they gave for this was that 
they believed that the people of the North would not rest 
until, by some means, they had set all the slaves in the 
country free. They thought that President Lincoln would 
like that, and would work to bring it about. 

This was a great mistake, for Lincoln had no intention 
whatever of doing anything to disturb the men at the 
South who owned negroes. So long as they did not try 
to take them into the territory west of the Mississippi 
River he would not lift his finger against them. He him- 
self had said so, and every one who knew him knew that 
he was truthful, honest, and brave. When he said a thing 
he meant it. 

But the people of South Carolina sent men to a con- 
vention, or meeting, at Charleston. That convention voted 
that South Carolina was no longer a part of the American 
republic, but that it was now an independent state standing 

1 Secede (se-sed'). 



242 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



entirely by itself outside of the United States. Then 
the people of Charleston rang the church bells and fired 
cannon to show their joy. 

215. Ten more slave states secede, or leave the Union. 
— Very soon six more southern states, namely, Georgia, 
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas 
voted that they would follow the example of South Caro- 
lina. Later on, four other southern states, namely, Vir- 
ginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina joined 
them, making eleven in all. There were four more 
slave states in the Union. These were Delaware, Mary- 
land, Kentucky, and Missouri. They were called *' border 
states " because they touched the borders, or boundaries, 
of the free states. " These " border states " remained in 
the Union and sent a large number of men to fight for 
it. The eleven slave states which left the Union decided 
to call themselves the " Confederate States of America." 
They elected Jefferson Davis (§ 195) president. They 
pulled down the stars and stripes and ran up a new flag 
which they called the '' stars and bars " (see the flag on 
page 244). Those who carried that flag meant to make 
slavery stronger and meant to spread it farther and farther. 

This action on the part of eleven of the southern states 
greatly distressed Mr. Buchanan, but he did not see what 
he could do to stop it. When the time came for him to 
leave office and for the new President to come in, he went 
to his home full of sorrow over the strange and sad things 
which he had seen happen. 

216. Review. — While Mr. Buchanan was . President, 
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois 
held a number of public debates on Kansas and slavery. 



THE CIVIL WAR 243 

Senator Douglas thought that the people of Kansas should 
have the right of deciding for themselves whether they 
would keep negroes as slaves. 

Abraham Lincoln spoke against this and declared that 
Congress ought to refuse to let any more slave states into 
the Union. The following year John Brown, who had 
fought against slavery in Kansas territory, tried to set the 
negroes free at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. After a hard 
fight he was arrested, tried for murder, and hanged. The 
people of the North did not approve of John Brown's plan 
for liberating southern slaves. Most of them had no inten- 
tion of meddling with slavery at the South, but they were 
determined to keep it from getting possession of any new 
territory in the West. 

Three new free states were admitted to the Union. 
They were Minnesota, Oregon., and Kansas. This made 
the whole number thirty-four. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND ANDREW JOHNSON, SIX- 
TEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH PRESIDENTS 
(1861-1869) 

217. Beginning of the great war to save the Union j 
battle of Fort Sumter (1861). — The people of the eleven 
southern states which had left the Union (§§ 214, 215) 
now seized all the United States forts they could get hold 
of. They also closed the mouth of the Mississippi River 
so that no vessels but their own should go out or come in. 

When the Southerners seized the forts they pulled down 
the flag of the United States and hoisted the stars and 
bars (§215) in its place. But they had not succeeded in 



244 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



getting possession of Fort Sumter, which was on an island 
in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina (see map below). 
The stars and stripes were still flying 
there, and they were defended by Major 
Robert Anderson of the United States 
army. But Major Anderson had only 
a small number of men under his com- 
mand, and his stock of food was running 
short. He knew that unless President 
Lincoln sent him more provisions he 
would have to give up the fort to the southern people. 

The President did send several vessels loaded with pro- 
visions. When Jefferson Davis (§ 215) heard of their com- 
ing, he ordered General Beauregard, ^ who commanded the 
Southern, or 




Confederate Flag 
(The Stars and Bars ) 




Confederate, 
army, to demand 
the surrender of 
the fort. Major 
Anderson re- 
fused to give it 
up. Then the 
Confederates 
aimed their can- 
non at Fort Sum- 
ter and began 
firing. Major 
Anderson fired back. 

War had now actually begun. The people of the south- 
ern states were fighting against the old flag. They were 

1 Beauregard (b5'reh-gard'). 



jisTAR OF THE WEST 
^/ BATTERY 



Map of Charleston Harbor 



THE CIVIL WAR 



245 



fighting to destroy the Union. Major Anderson and his 
Httle band of men were fighting to defend and preserve it. 

But Major Anderson could not hold out. He had not 
food enough, and he had several thousand well-fed men to 
fight against. He had to give up the fort (April 14, 1861). 
He and his men 
then sailed for 
New York. But 
he carried the 
old flag with 
him. It was torn 
with the shot 
that had struck 
it, but it was 
none the less 
dear to those 
who had defend- 
ed it. It was a 
good thing it was 
saved, for just 
four years from 
that day Major 
Anderson went 
back to Charleston and hoisted that very flag over the 
ruins of Fort Sumter. 

218. President Lincoln calls for soldiers to put down the 
rebellion; the two armies; the battle of Bull Run (1861). 
— As soon as the terrible news reached Washington, Presi- 
dent Lincoln called for seventy-five thousand men to defend 
the Union and put down the rebellion. More than double 
that number rushed forward to save their country. 




Major Anderson leaving Fort Sumter 



246 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

On the other side, Jefferson Davis called for more men 
to fight for the South. 

This was only the beginning, for the two armies kept 
growing larger and larger. At last there were more than 
a million of men in the Union ranks, and about seven hun- 
dred thousand in the ranks of the Confederates. 

For four years men were fighting somewhere in the 
United States every day. Thousands upon thousands of 
them were killed on both sides. Never since America 
was discovered have the people of the world seen such a 
war as that. 

In the summer of 1 861 an army of Union soldiers was 
gathered about Washington to protect the capital of the 
United States against attack. On the other hand, an 
army of Confederate soldiers ^ gathered in northern Vir- 
ginia to protect the city of Richmond, which had become 
the capital of the eleven Confederate states (§ 215). The 
two armies met on the banks of a little stream called Bull 
Run, southwest of Washington (see map on page 247). 
Here the first battle in the open field was fought. It was 
not at all like the battle of Fort Sumter (§ 217). That 
was fought with cannon fired across the waters of Charles- 
ton Harbor, and those who fired were so far apart that they 
could not see each other ; but at Bull Run the *' boys in 
blue" and the "boys in gray"^ met face to face. 

The Union army set out to capture Richmond and take 
Jefferson Davis prisoner. The Confederates meant to cap- 
ture Washington and take President Lincoln prisoner. 

1 General Scott had command of all the Union forces, and General 
Beauregard of the Confederates at the East. 

2 The Union soldiers wore blue uniforms and the Confederates wore gray. 



THE CIVIL WAR 



247 



But neither side succeeded in doing what it had deter- 
mined to do. The Union men were driven back across 
the Potomac River into the streets of the national capital ; 
but the Confederates did not try to follow them. 

Before the battle, Congress felt certain that President 
Lincoln's men would win a great victory. It turned out 
the other way. What did Congress do then ? It voted 
to raise a larger army, to call on the people to give more 
money, and to 
push the war 
on harder than 
ever. 

Bull Run 
taught the 
people of the 
North a good 
lesson. It 
showed them 
that the people 
of the South 
were in earnest 
about breaking 
up the Union, 
and that we 
must fight it 
out. 

219. The 




Union plan for carrying on the war. — Little by little the 
Union generals and the commanders of the vessels in the 
navy made a plan for carrying on the war. They meant 
to fight the Confederates by land and by sea. 



248 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

First of all, they made ready to stretch out a line of war 
ships along the coast of the southern states. These war 
ships were to shut up, or blockade, all such ports as Nor- 
folk, Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, New Orleans, and 
Galveston (see map opposite this page). By doing that, 
the people of the South would be prevented from sending 
cotton to England to sell, and they would also find it 
impossible to buy clothing or guns, or anything which 
would help them, in England. 

Besides that, the Union war ships were to batter down 
the Confederate forts along the southern coast, and help 
capture the cities. 

Secondly, on the land, the line of the Union army was 
stretched across the country from the Potomac River to 
the Mississippi, and beyond it as far as western Texas 
(see map opposite this page). One part of the Union 
army was to move against Richmond, Virginia, the capital 
of the Confederate states. Another part was to open the 
Mississippi River, which the South had closed (§ 217). 

A third part of the Union army was to force its way 
down through Tennessee into Georgia, then march across 
the country to Savannah and Charleston on the seacoast. 
Then it was to turn and march northward until it met and 
joined the first part of the Union army at Richmond. 

In helping to carry out this plan the captains of the 
war ships did a great piece of work. They caught hun- 
dreds of vessels which were trying to run the blockade ;. 
they destroyed Confederate war ships ; they compelled 
forts to surrender, not only on the southern seacoast but 
on the southern rivers. In short, they did just as much 
to save the Union as the armies did which fought on land. 



i 



lOr Xongitnde 102 West 




/ 



THE CIVIL WAR 



249 



The two were like the blades of a pair of shears, one 
helped the other, and whatever got between them was 
pretty sure to be cut to pieces. 

General McClellan ^ now took command of the Union 
army in the East and began to drill them for the next battles. 

220. The fight between the Monitor'^ and the Merri- 
tnac (1862); the Kearsarge^ and the Alabama (1864). 
— After the battle of Bull Run (§ 218) the Union army 
and the Confederate army took a long rest. 

While they were resting, and making ready to fight, 
a battle took place on the water. It was at the mouth of 
the James River, at the entrance to Chesapeake"^ Bay, 
Virginia (see map on page 247). The Confederates at 
Norfolk had managed to get hold of a half-burnt United 
States war ship called the Merrimac. They covered the 
sides and top of this vessel with thick plates of iron. 
Then they put some large cannon on board of her. This 
made her into a kind of floating, ironclad fort. 

When they had got this floating fort all ready they 
sent it out to destroy some Union war ships which were 
anchored near by. They were three old wooden vessels 
called the Ciimbei-land^ the Congress, and the Minnesota, 
and they were riding at anchor just off Fort Monroe, one 
of the largest and strongest forts in the United States. 

As soon as the Cumberland and the Congress saw the 
monster coming toward them they began to fire at her. It 
was like a boy firing a popgun against the side of a big 
rock. The balls would strike the thick iron plates with a 
tremendous crash, but they did no damage whatever. 

1 McClellan (mak-kleran). ^ Kearsarge (ker'siirj). 

2 Monitor (mon'T-ter). ^ Chesapeake (ches'a-pek). 



250 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

The Merrimac never turned aside an inch ; but she 
put on all steam and dashed into the Cumbeidand. That 
unfortunate vessel was sent to the bottom, and many sick 
and wounded Union men went to the bottom in her.^ 

Then the Merrimac turned and attacked the Congress ^ 
captured her, set her on fire, and left her to burn up. 
Having done that, the captain of the Merrimac thought 
he had worked mischief enough for one day, so he went 
back to Norfolk (see map on page 247). 

Early the next morning he started out to finish up his 
job by destroying the Minnesota. 

But this time the Merrimac was not going to have 
everything her own way, as she did before. A queer- 
looking little vessel, flying the stars and stripes, came 
out to meet her. It was a new Union war ship, made 
entirely of iron. It was called the Mo7iito}'y^ and it had 
come from New York. 

The Merrimac had been fighting poor wooden vessels, 
that could do nothing to defend themselves against her. 
Now she must fight something that was as hard and 
tough as she was herself. It was iron against iron. No 
battle like this had ever been seen before in the world. 
It ended by the Confederate captain turning round and 
hurrying back to Norfolk. He had not dared touch the 
Minnesota, which he had expected to destroy. 

The Merrimac had now done all the damage she ever 
would do. She never had another game of ball with the 
little Monitor. Some weeks after that, the Confederates 
were obliged to give up Norfolk to the Union army. 

1 See Longfellow's poem on the sinking of the Cumberland. 

2 The Monitor was invented by Captain John Ericsson. 



THE CIVIL WAR 



251 



When they did, the crew of the Merrimac set fire to her 
and burned her up. 

From that time on, the United States built many iron 
ships of war and many iron-plated gunboats. They did 
great service during the war, — most of all on the rivers 
in the southwest. 

On the other hand, the Confederates built several war 
ships in Europe and sent them out to destroy the merchant 
vessels of the United States. The Alabama was the 




The Monitor and the Merrimac 



most noted of these ships, and she robbed and burned a 
great many northern vessels. The captain of the Kear- 
sarge ^ went out in search of her ; he found her near the 
coast of France, and soon sent her to the bottom of the sea. 
221. Fighting at the West ; what General Grant did. — 
You remember that there was a young man who took 
part in the Mexican War whose name was Ulysses S. 
Grant (§ 195). Well, some years after that war was over, 
he went to the state of Missouri and tried his hand at 
farming. But he did not get on very well. Then he 
undertook to do something else, but he did not succeed 

1 The Kearsarge (ker'sarj) was a Union sloop of war. 



252 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

any better at that. Finally, he went into his father's 
leather store at Galena/ Illinois, to see if he could get 
a living as a clerk selling leather. 

When the great war for the Union broke out, Ulysses 
S. Grant left his father's leather store. He raised a com- 
pany of men to fight for the old flag which he had fought 
under in Mexico. After a time he got command of a large 
number of Union soldiers and was called General Grant. 

If you look on the map on page 253 you will see a 
town named Cairo ^ at the southern end of IlHnois. It 
stands just at the point where the Ohio River flows into 
the Mississippi. In the winter of 1861 General Grant 
had his army there. 

By the spring of 1862 he and Commodore Foote, of the 
United States navy, began to move toward the South. 
The Confederate army had beeri trying very hard to get 
possession of the "border state " of Kentucky (§ 215), but 
they had been beaten and had given up the game. 

With the help of Commodore Foote, General Grant 
pushed his way south along the Tennessee and the Cum- 
berland rivers (see map on page 253). He fought three 
hard battles. In one of them he captured Fort Henry ; 
in the next he took Fort Donelson^ (both of which you 
will see on the map) ; last of all, he fought and won a ter- 
rible battle at Shiloh,* or Pittsburg Landing, In this way 
he drove the Confederate soldiers out of the state of Ten- 
nessee. In this way, too, he got a new name, for, instead 
of calling him Ulysses S. Grant, everybody on the Union 
side now began to call him ** Unconditional Surrender" 

1 Galena (ga-le'na). * Donelson (don'el-son)„ 

2 Cairo (kar'o). * Shiloh (shrio). 



THE CIVIL WAR 



253 



Grant. That was because when he said that the Confed- 
erate general at Fort Donelson must surrender, he told 
him that he must give up everything at once and say 
nothing more about it ; he did just what Grant told him. 
At the same time that General Grant gained these 
three victories, the Union soldiers opened the Mississippi 
River from Kentucky as far south as Vicksburg (see map 



ILL 



I^Olk { .I^iXnA iCilncSati^) ^ 



"WEST 




on page 261). These victories by General Grant ended 
the first year of the war. 

222. Review. — The first year of the war began by 
the Confederates taking Fort Sumter in Charleston Har- 
bor. President Lincoln then called for seventy-five thou- 
sand men to save the Union and to put down the rebellion. 
In the first great battle, fought at Bull Run, Virginia, the 
Union men were beaten. Congress then voted to raise 
a large army, and it also voted more money to fight with. 



254 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



The Union commanders began to make a plan for car- 
rying on the war. They blockaded the southern coast; 
and they made ready to send armies to take Richmond, 
the Confederate capital, to open the Mississippi River, 
and, last of all, to march through the states of Ten- 
nessee and Georgia, and then up toward the north. In 
the spring of 1 862 the Union war ship Monitor drove back 
the Confederate war ship Merrimac. This was the first 
battle fought on the water. 

In the West, General Grant took two Confederate forts 
in Tennessee, besides fighting and gaining the great battle 
of Pittsburg Landing. In this way he got possession of the 
state of Tennessee, and the Union forces opened the Mis- 
sissippi River from Kentucky as far south as Vicksburg. 

Second Year of the War for the Union 
(April, 1862-ApRiL, 1863) 

223. What Captain Farragut^ did at New Orleans 
(1862). — At the beginning of the war the Confederates, 
at New Orleans,^ had taken possession of two forts below 
the city on opposite sides of the Mississippi River. 

Above these two forts they anchored a number of 
vessels armed with heavy cannon. Next, just below the 
forts, they stretched two big chains across the river (see 
map opposite page 305). Having done these three things 
they felt safe. 

They said, Now let Lincoln send all the ships of war 
and all the men he pleases ; we are ready for them. 
Before they can strike a blow at New Orleans they have 

1 Farragut (far'a-gut). 2 New Orleans (or'le-anz). 




Farragut on his Way to New Orleans 



256 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

got to cut their way through two heavy chain cables. 
Then, if they succeed in doing that, they must pass 
between the guns of our two forts, which will fire at them 
from opposite sides of -the river. Last of all, if any of 
them come through that fire alive, they must meet and 
fight our war ships above the forts. 

In the spring of the second year of the war (1862) 
Captain Farragut started with a large fleet of Union war 
ships to go up the Mississippi and take New Orleans. 

First, he put on all steam and rammed his way through 
the two heavy chains. Next, he fought his way past the 
two forts. Finally, he knocked the Confederate fleet to 
pieces with his big guns. Then he sailed up to the city 
of New Orleans, and sent a lot of soldiers on shore to 
take possession of the place. They quickly hauled down 
the '' stars and bars " (§215), and then, with loud cheers, 
ran up the stars and stripes. That finished that piece 
of work. 

But above New Orleans there were several Confeder- 
ate forts still to be taken ; the last of these would be 
Vicksburg, which would be more difficult to conquer 
than all the rest. Captain Farragut could not take these 
places unless he had an army on land to help him, so noth- 
ing more was done on the Mississippi that year. Later 
on. Captain Farragut was made an admiral ^ — that is the 
highest position in the United States navy. 

224. Fighting at the East ; McClellan tries to take Rich- 
mond; Lee tries to get into Pennsylvania (1862). — Not 
long after the Union men had taken New Orleans (§ 223) 
Jefferson Davis (§215) put Colonel Robert E. Lee, who 

1 Admiral (ad'mi-ral). 



THE CIVIL WAR 257 

had been in the Mexican war (§ 195), in command of the 
Confederate army around Richmond. 

Lee's father had been a large slaveholder in Virginia. 
When he died he gave his slaves to his son, but the young 
man did not think slavery was a good thing, so he set all 
of his negroes free. But when the great war broke out 
and the state of Virginia voted to secede from the Union 
(§ 215), Colonel Lee said, " I shall go with my state." He 
loved the Union, but he loved Virginia better. He hated 
slavery, but he drew his sword to fight for it. He became 
a general in the Confederate army. 

General McClellan (§ 219) had now got his army into 
fine condition, and he set out to fight General Lee and to 
take Richmond. A number of hard battles took place, 
and the Union men got so near to the Confederate capital 
that they could see the church steeples in the city ; but 
they could not take it (see map on page 247). 

Then General Lee set out to go north and see if he 
could not capture Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania. 
He crossed the Potomac River into Maryland, but McClel- 
lan met him there and drove him back with terrible loss.'^ 

Both sides had failed to do what they had undertaken. 
The " boys in blue " did not get into Richmond, and " the 
boys in gray " did not get into the capital of Pennsylvania. 

225. President Lincoln sets the slaves free, 1863. — 
Ever since the war began, the southern people had got 
great help from their negroes. The slaves raised the corn 
and pork which fed the Confederate armies. The slaves, 
too, had to work with pickaxes and shovels to build Con- 
federate forts. 

1 This was at the battle of Antietam (an-te'tam). 



258 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



President Lincoln thought that this had gone on long 
enough. He said, In all our fighting we have not tried 
to strike slavery, yet slavery was what brought on the 
war. He now determined not to wait any longer, but to 
hit slavery the hardest blow he could. 

On New Year's Day, 1863, the President said, I now 
set free forever all slaves in the states which are making 
war against the Union. 
















Lee's Army in Maryland 
(Main Street, Sharpsburg, — from a war-time photograph) 

From that day on, as fast as the Union armies moved 
forward, so fast the negroes in the South got their liberty. 
In the end, President Lincoln made every slave in the 
United States a free man. That meant, of course, that 
every black man could now keep all that he earned. It 
also meant that he must make his own way without help, 
and learn to take care of himself. 



THE CIVIL WAR 259 

In time many thousands of these " freedmen," ^ as they 
were called, entered the Union army. A part of them 
fought on the battlefield. General Grant says that they 
" fought bravely " ; those who fell died for the flag which 
flies over us to-day. 

226. Review. — In the second year of the war the 
Union men under Captain Farragut took the city of New 
Orleans and so opened the mouth of the Mississippi River. 
Some time afterward Captain Farragut was made an 
admiral. At the East General McClellan set out to take 
Richmond but did not succeed. On the other hand, 
General Lee set out to take the capital of Pennsylvania, 
but he was beaten by General McClellan in a great 
battle, and he had to go back into Virginia. 

On New Year's Day, 1863, President Lincoln set the 
slaves free. Many of them now entered the Union army 
and helped the "boys in blue" fight their battles for the 
old flag. 

Third Year of the War (April, 1863-APRiL, 1864) 

227. The great battle of Gettysburg (1863). — But 

although General Lee had been beaten and driven back 
when he tried to enter Pennsylvania (§ 224), he did not 
give up but resolved to try again. The next summer 
(1863) he set out once more to see if he could not capture 
Harrisburg and perhaps Philadelphia. 

General Meade, with a large Union army, met Lee at 
Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, just across the line from 
Maryland (see map on page 247). 

1" Freediren*' : this was the name given to all the freed slaves. 



26o 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



Here a battle was fought which lasted three days. 
Both sides lost an immense number of men, — more than 
forty thousand in all. 

On the last day the Confederates were utterly defeated, 
and Lee, with what soldiers he had left, hurried back to 
Virginia. He never tried to enter Pennsylvania again. 




Battle of Gettysburg 

The next autumn, part of the great battlefield of 
Gettysburg was set apart as a burial ground for the 
Union soldiers who fell there. President Lincoln was 
present and spoke words which will never be forgotten.^ 
The entire ground is now covered with beautiful marble 
and granite monuments. Outside of our country nothing 
like it can be seen anywhere in the world. 

1 See a part of his Address at Gettysburg in Montgomery's " Leading 
Facts of American History," in this series. 



THE CIVIL WAR 



261 



228. General << Unconditional Surrender **i Grant takes 
Vicksburg (1863). — While the guns were thundering at 
Gettysburg (§ 227) General Grant was fighting a great 
battle at Vicksburg (§ 223), more than a thousand miles 
away (see map below). 

He had been trying to take the Confederate city for 
weeks. But, standing as it did on a bluff two hundred feet 
above the Missis- 
sippi River, it was 
a hard place to 
get at. 

Day and night 
he kept hammer- 
ing away at it 
with his big guns. 
Many of the 
houses in the 
town were banged 
to pieces. No one 
dared to stay in 
them. The 
women and chil- 
dren suffered ter- 
ribly ; they had to 
live in holes or caves dug out of the sides of the clay hills. 

The Confederate soldiers dug long trenches, or ditches, 
for themselves, so that Grant's cannon balls would not hit 
them. But worst of all, everybody in the place was getting 
short of food. At best they could only find a few mouth- 
fuls a day to eat. 

1 See page 252. 



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262 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



At last, on the Fourth of July (1863) the Confederates 
had to give up Vicksburg, and General Grant and his 
Union army entered the town. 

The battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg were two of the 
greatest victories '' the boys in blue " gained during the war. 




?• X 



General Grant hammering away at Vicksburg 

A few days later the last southern fort on the Missis- 
sippi surrendered.^ The great river of the West, the 
** Father of Waters," w^as now free and wide open. 

229. What the Union army and navy had done ; a day 
of thanksgiving appointed ; General Grant put in command 
of all the Union armies. — Two parts of the Union plan 
for carrying on the war (§ 219) had now been successfully 
carried out. In the first place the war ships had blockaded, 

^ This was at Port Hudson, south of Vicksburg. See map, page 261. 



THE CIVIL WAR 263 

or shut up, all of the southern seaports. The Confederates 
could very seldom get a chance to send any cotton abroad 
from them, and they found it harder and harder to get any 
clothing, guns, or powder which might be sent to them 
from Europe. 

In the second place the armies of the United States had 
cleared the Mississippi of every Confederate fort, so that 
Union men could go up and down its entire length, and 
there was no one to stop them. 

When the great news came of the victory at Gettysburg, 
and the next day of the victory at Vicksburg, President 
Lincoln appointed a day of thanksgiving and prayer. The 
Union men everywhere met and gave thanks to God that 
our country's flag was triumphant. 

Later, there was more hard fighting at the West, and 
the Union soldiers, under Grant, got possession of Chatta- 
nooga,^ Tennessee (see map on page 253). In the spring 
(1864) President Lincoln put General Grant in command 
of all the armies of the United States. 

230. Review. — In the third year of the war Lee was 
beaten in the terrible battle of Gettysburg. He never 
tried to enter Pennsylvania again. 

General Grant took Vicksburg and opened the Missis- 
sippi River. Not very long afterward President Lincoln 
put him in command of all the Union armies in the 
United States. 

1 Chattanooga (chafta-noo'ga). 



264 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



Fourth and Last Year of the War (April, 1864- 
April, 1865) 

231. General Grant and General Sherman plan the last 

battles of the war (1864) Before General Grant left 

Chattanooga to go East (§ 229), he had a long talk with 
General Sherman, who was his right-hand man. He told 
that general that he was going to Washington to march 
against Lee and hammer him until he made him give up 
Richmond. While he was doing that piece of work at 
the East he w^anted General Sherman to push his way 
down into Georgia and take Atlanta^ (see map, page 253). 

General Grant's plan was to move against Lee from the 
north, and have Sherman move against him from the 
south at the same time, just as you have seen the two 
parts of a vise move toward each other. Put your finger 
in the vise, then turn the handle, and you will understand 
how General Grant hoped to catch Lee and hold him fast 
(see map opposite page 248). 

232. General Grant moves against Lee ; the battles in 
the Wilderness (1864). — General Grant went East to 
carry out his plan (§ 231). He was the sixth general who 
had set out to take Richmond. Five who had tried it had 
failed.2 Now the question was whether General Grant 
would have to give it up as all the rest had. 

He started from the Rapidan River ^ in northern Vir- 
ginia in May, 1864 (see map on page 265). He wanted 
to go directly across what was called the Wilderness. 

1 Atlanta (at-lan'ta). 2 McDowell, McClellan, Pope, Burnside, 

and Hooker were the five generals who had tried it and failed. 
3 Rapidan (rap'id-an'), a branch of the Rappahannock River. 



THE CIVIL WAR 



265 



Chambersburgr^ 

N N S 



That was a wild, rough piece of country covered with small 
trees and a great tangle of bushes and vines. There were 
no good roads through the Wilderness, and it was difficult 
work for the Union men to move forward. 

The fighting in the Wilderness was something awfuL 
It was a good deal like fighting in the dark. At last, 
however, by 
turning and 
twisting. Gen- 
eral Grant man- 
aged to get on. 
But he found 
that it was no 
use trying to 
move in a 
straight line to 
Richmond. So 
he changed his 
course some- 
what, and got 
to Petersburg, 
which is not 
very far from 
Richmond (see 
map above). 
There he had to stop, and it began to seem doubtful whether 
he would get any farther. 

233. What Sherman did in the West (1864). — On the 
very day that General Grant set out to cross the Wil- 
derness for Richmond (§232), General Sherman moved 
forward as he had promised to do (§ 231). He left 




266 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Chattanooga, Tennessee, and began fighting his way 
toward Atlanta, Georgia (see map on page 267). 

The Confederate army in that part of the country tried 
their best to stop him. They would keep moving away 
from him, and at the same time they would tear up the 
railway tracks and the bridges behind them. They hoped 
that by doing that they could starve Sherman's army, 
because all the food for his men had to be carried in trains 
running over those tracks and- bridges. But the Union 
men laid the railway tracks again and rebuilt the bridges. 
They did this so quickly that they gave the Confederates 
no chance to rest. Almost before they knew it '' the boys 
in blue " would be chasing them again. 

234. General Sherman takes Atlanta and marches to the 
sea (1864). — After fighting a number of hard battles, 
General Sherman's army entered Atlanta, Georgia (see 
map on page 267). It was a very busy city. Several lines 
of railway came in there, and the Confederates had large 
cotton mills, workshops, and iron foundries there. In 
these they made clothes for the southern soldiers, besides 
cannon and other things used in the war. 

The Union men burned every mill, factory, foundry, 
and machine shop in the place. That was done in order 
that the Confederates should not be able to make anything 
more there which they could use in fighting against the 
Union. 

When the fire had done its work and the city was full 
of smoking piles of ruins General Sherman set out on 
another march. It was the greatest march of the war, 
for he was going from Atlanta through Georgia to the 
seacoast. 



THE CIVIL WAR 



267 



He had sixty thousand men. They went across the 
country eating up everything they could lay hands on. 
By Christmas time (1864) General Sherman had reached 
and captured the city of Savannah ; ^ he was in sight of 
the Atlantic (see map below). The jaws of the great 
vise (§ 231) were slowly moving together, and the Con- 
federate armies were between those jaws. 

235. General Sherman marches toward the North and 
meets General Grant (1865). — Next, General Sherman 



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SCALE OF MILES 



Map of Sherman's March 

Started to move northward toward Richmond (see map 
above). For weeks his army pushed on through floods of 
rain. They waded through mud knee-deep, and through 
swamps and streams deeper still. They had to cut down 
trees and build miles and miles of roads made of logs. 

At last the Union army reached North Carolina. 
There General Sherman left them to rest for a short time 



^ Savannah (sa-van'a) 



268 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



while he went to see General Grant who was still near 
Petersburg, Virginia (§ 232). 

236. General Grant takes Richmond; the end of the 
great war (1865) ; new states. — About a week from the 
time when General Grant and General Sherman met 




Surrender of General Lee 



(§ 235), Lee's army left Richmond. The Union army, led 
by General Grant, entered the Confederate capital and 
he hoisted the stars and stripes over the city. 

A few days later, General Lee surrendered his half- 
starved army to General Grant. ^ The " boys in gray " 
had eaten nothing but some pounded corn ; they were 
faint with hunger, and the ''boys in blue" were glad to 

1 The surrender was made at Appomattox (ap'po-mat'toks), Virginia, 
not very far from Richmond (see map on page 265). 



THE CIVIL WAR 



269 



sit down on the grass and share their bread with them. 
General Johnston, who had been fighting against General 
Sherman, surrendered about two weeks later. 

At last the terrible war was over. It had been going 
on for four years. It had cost the people of the North 
more than a thousand dollars a minute for the whole 




The "Boys in Blue" sharing their Rations with the 
" Boys in Gray " 

four years. ^ It had cost the people of the South every 
dollar they had in the world. The South was full of ruins ; 
mills, bridges, and railways had been destroyed ; the 
slaves had followed the Union armies ; the plantations 
were deserted ; the cattle had been killed off ; in many 
cases nothing was left but the bare land. 



1 The cost of the war to the United States was about ^2,850,000,000. 
This would be, on the average, a good deal more than one thousand 
dollars a minute for the entire four years. 



270 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

But that was not all ; that was not the worst, for half 
a million of the young men of the country, of the North 
and of the South, lay dead. Many of them slept in 
graves dug on a hundred hard-fought 'battlefields. 

Was such a war worth such terrible cost ? Yes, for it 
saved the Union; it destroyed slavery; it made it possible 
for the men of the North and the men of the South to 
feel that in all time to come they would stand by each 
other as friends and brothers. 

While the war was going on, two new states were 
admitted to the Union. They were West Virginia and 
Nevada. This made the whole number thirty-six. 

237. Review. — In the fourth and last year of the war 
General Grant moved against Richmond from the north, 
while General Sherman in the west moved from Chatta- 
nooga, Tennessee, against Atlanta, Georgia. 

General Grant fought a number of battles in the Wil- 
derness, and finally moved around to Petersburg, not very 
far from Richmond. 

General Sherman fought his way to Atlanta, and then 
marched to Savannah. From there he went to North 
Carolina. Soon after this, Lee left Richmond, and a few 
days later he surrendered to Grant. This ended the war. 

238. Major Anderson hoists the old flag over Fort Sum- 
ter ; President Lincoln murdered ; Andrew Johnson becomes 
President (1865). — You remember how bravely Major 
Anderson defended Fort Sumter at the beginning of the 
war (§217). That fort was now given back to the United 
States. On April 14, 1865, Major Anderson raised the 
very same flag over it which he had fought under just four 
years before. 




Grand Review of the Union Armies at Washington, 1865 



272 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

That day, so full of joy for every lover of his country, 
was followed by an evening filled with sorrow. On that 
evening a half-crazed actor of the name of Booth shot 
President Lincoln in a theater in Washington. By his 
death Vice President Andrew Johnson then became 
President of the United States. 

239. Congress and the new President ; what Congress did 
about the southern states and the freed negroes. — The 
new President did not get on well with Congress. Finally 
a number of members of Congress resolved to bring the 
President to trial and to remove him from office. But 
when the trial took place, those who disliked Mr. John- 
son did not succeed in removing him, although they came 
very near it. 

Congress now told the eleven southern states which 
had fought against the Union (§§214, 215) that they 
might elect members to Congress. But in order to do 
so they had to promise two things. First, they must 
give their word that all the negroes that had been set free 
(§ 225) should stay free. Secondly, they must give their 
word that the freed negroes should be protected by the 
same laws by which white men were protected. That 
meant that the black man was now to have the same rights, 
in most ways, that the white men had. 

Seven of the eleven states agreed to do this. They 
came back into the Union and elected members to Con- 
gress. The other four states refused to make these two 
promises ; but later they agreed to do so. They then 
came back into the Union. Within five years after the 
war had ended, all of the eleven states were back in the 
Union and had elected members to Congress. 






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274 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

By that time another great change had taken place, for 
the United States had given the negroes the right to vote.^ 

This completed the work, for now the negroes at the 
South, who had once been slaves, had all the rights which 
any white man had. 

In some of the southern states, such as South Carolina, 
there were more black men than white. When the negroes 
got the right to vote they tried at first to have everything 
their own way. They succeeded for a time, and so made 
a great deal of trouble. 

240. The United States buys another large piece of land 
(1867) ; a new state added. — We have seen how the United 
States got possession of six pieces of land. Some of these 
we bought, some were given to us. The first was the great 
Louisiana Country (1803) ; the second was the territory of 
Florida (18 19); the third was Texas (1845); the fourth 
was the Oregon Country (1846) ; the fifth was California 
and the other territory which we got from Mexico (1848) ; 
the sixth was the piece of land we bought from Mexico 
which was called the '' Gadsden Purchase " (i853).2 

Now we added a seventh piece of land ; for, a few years 
after the war was over, we bought the territory of Alaska ^ 
from Russia (see map on page 275). We paid ^7,200,000 
for it. A good many of our people cried out that we 
"had wasted our money. They said that Alaska produced 
nothing but ice and bears, and that we had enough of 
both without buying any more. 

1 These rights were given to the negroes by three amendments which 
were made to the Constitution of the United States. 

2 See the maps showing these additions, beginning with Louisiana, on 
pages 168, 185, 211, 215, 218, 219. 3 Alaska (a-lasTca). 




Possessions of the United States on the North American Continent from the time of the 
Revolution to the present day. See, too, the Map of the World, page 301 



2^6 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

But we have since obtained so much gold and so many 
seal skins and salmon from Alaska that everybody now 
thinks we got a great bargain. In fact, Alaska has paid 
all it cost us, many times over. 

The same year (i 867) in which we bought that far north- 
ern territory we added the state of Nebraska to the Union. 
This made the whole number of states thirty-seven. 

241. Review. — Just after the war for the Union was 
ended, President Lincoln was murdered and Vice Presi- 
dent Johnson became President. 

President Johnson did not get on well with Congress, 
and an attempt was made to remove him from office, but 
it did not succeed. 

A few years after this, the southern states were allowed 
to send members to Congress, just as they had done before 
the war. The freed negroes now received all the rights 
of white men, one of which was the right to vote. 

In I "^6^ we bought the territory of Alaska from Russia. 
It made the seventh great piece of land which the United 
States had obtained. That same year Nebraska was 
admitted to the Union, making thirty-seven states in all. 



ULYSSES S. GRANT, EIGHTEENTH PRESIDENT 
(1869-1877) 

242. Opening of the first railway to the Pacific (1869) ; 
western farms. — We have already spoken of the opening 
of the first great line of railway across the continent to 
the Pacific (§ 202). This railway was completed about 
two months after General Grant became our eighteenth 
President. 



SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 



277 



When people from the eastern states first began to go 
across the country to CaUf ornia it took them several months 
to get there. One man drove an ox team from Maine to 
the Pacific coast. He was a year on the road. He said 
that before he got there he began to think that there was 
no end to the United States. 

But after the Pacific Railway was finished, passengers 
could go from Maine to San Francisco in a week. In 
this way steam made 
it very easy for emi- 
grants to get to the 
far West. Congress 
gave them farms,^ so 
land cost them 
nothing. To-day 
that part of our coun- 
try between the Mis- 
sissippi River and 
the Pacific Ocean 
has many railways 
running through it in 
different directions. 
See map on page 
278. Great numbers 
of settlers have gone 
there and made 
themselves homes. 
There are farms there which can show the largest cornfields 
and wheat fields and the largest herds of cattle and flocks 
of sheep that can be seen anywhere in the world. 

1 This was under the Homestead Act of 186?!. 




United States Weather Bureau 



278 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



243, What the United States has to say about the 
weather. — Those who cultivate the soil and those who 
send vessels to sea always want to find out all they can 
about the weather. Will it rain ? Will it storm ? are 
questions they are asking every day. 

The year after the first Pacific railway was opened 
(§ 242) Congress hired a number of men to spend their 
time in trying to answer these questions.^ 

These answers are published in the papers every morn- 
ing. We know before we eat our breakfasts what kind 




Railways of the United States 

(Showing Five Pacific Railways ; the middle one was built first) 

of weather the day will probably bring us. That informa- 
tion is worth more money than we ever saw, because it 
helps the farmers and the shipowners and many other 

1 The United States Weather Bureau was established in 1870. 



SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 279 

people to decide about their work. It tells them whether 
they had better cut their grass or their grain, or whether 
they had better send their vessels to sea or hold them 
in port. 

244. The great Exhibition at Philadelphia in 1876; 
admission of Colorado. — In 1876 the United States kept 
its hundredth birthday, because just a hundred years had 
passed since we declared ourselves independent (§ 123). 

There was a great exhibition opened at Philadelphia. 
The main object of it was to show what wonderful 
machines we had invented, and how much we had gained 
in every way in the course of a century. 

In 1776, when Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration 
of Independence, Philadelphia was only a little city, and 
the whole country west of Pennsylvania was a wilderness 
where tribes of Indians hunted wild beasts. There were 
only thirteen states in the Union. If you look on the 
map on page 93, you will see that they were stretched 
out in a thin line along the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. 

Now look on the map on page 275 and you will see 
how big we had grown to be in our first hundred years. 
Philadelphia had become a great city. We had added 
twenty-iive more states (see page 280) and had reached 
out until we had got to the Mississippi, then to the Rocky 
Mountains, and then to the Pacific. 

That showed how the United States had spread until it 
extended clear across the North American continent from 
one ocean to the other. 

Then, when it came to inventions, we found that a cen- 
tury of time had made changes equally great. For the 
men who signed the Declaration of Independence at 



28o ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Philadelphia (§ 123) had never seen a steam engine, a 
steamboat, a train of cars, a telegraph line, an electric light, 
a photograph, a revolver, a typewriter, or a daily paper. 
They had never seen a mowing machine, a bicycle, or a 
sewing machine. More than that, they had not even seen 
such common things as a cook stove, a kerosene lamp, a 
postage stamp, or a box of matches. 

For all these useful and valuable inventions, and hun- 
dreds more besides, had come into use since these men 
at Philadelphia laid down the pen with which they put 
their names to that famous declaration. 

The same year in which the United States kept its hun- 
dredth birthday, the new state of Colorado was admitted 
to the Union. It made the whole number of states thirty- 
eight. 

245. Review. — While General Grant was President, 
the first Pacific railway was opened across the continent 
to California. It greatly helped to fill the far West with 
new settlers. 

Two years later the United States established a weather 
bureau, or ofifice to foretell the weather, day by day, for 
the whole country. It has been of immense service to a 
very large number of people — especially to farmers and 
shipowners. 

In 1876 the United States kept its hundredth birthday, 
and a great exhibition was opened at Philadelphia to show 
how rapidly we had grown and how much we had gained 
in all ways. 

In the same year Colorado was admitted to the Union 
as the thirty-eighth state. 



SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 281 

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES, NINETEENTH PRESIDENT 

(1877-1881) 

246. President Hayes calls away all Union soldiers from 
the southern states. — Up to this time a certain number 
of Union soldiers had been kept in the southern states. 
This was done to protect the freed negroes (§ 225) and 
to prevent any trouble between them and the white people. 
But President Hayes thought that the people of the South, 
both white and black, could now live together peaceably. 
For this reason he withdrew all the Union soldiers from 
that part of the country. Everything went on quietly 
after that, as the President believed it would, and the 
soldiers were never sent back. 

247. How one of the mouths of the Mississippi was 
made deeper. — The Mississippi River has a very rapid 
current. Every year the water brings down an immense 
quantity of yellow mud. Below the city of New Orleans 
this mud used to settle to the bottom and so block up the 
three mouths of the river. 

Large vessels and steamers, which had taken loads of 
cotton at New Orleans to carry to Europe, often found it 
very difficult to get out to sea. They would stick fast in 
the mud. 

In the same way vessels bringing goods from Europe 
would stick fast in trying to come up the river to New 
Orleans. The state of Louisiana and the United States 
had both spent a great deal of money in digging out the 
mouths of the Mississippi. But they soon filled up again, 
so not much good was done. Many said that the case was 
hopeless. 



282 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



Captain Eads ^ of St- Louis believed that he could find 
a way of doing what was needed. He did not try to dig 
out the mud, but he went to work and made some new 
banks ^ on each side the river just above its largest mouth. 
These banks made the stream narrower, and so forced the 
water to run a good deal faster than it did before. 



fe^^K 





What Captain Eads did for the Mississippi 

The rapid current carried the mud much farther out to 
sea and thus deepened the river. Because of this change 
large vessels can now go out and come in without trouble. 

Captain Eads spent four years in doing this work. He 
not only helped the city of New Orleans by it, but he 
helped all the people living on the great river who want 
to trade with other countries. 

1 James Buchanan Eads (eedz). 2 Captain Eads made these banks 

of timber and wickerwork, and filled them in with sand. 



SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 283 

248. Review. — President Hayes called away the Union 
soldiers that had been kept at the South to protect the 
negroes. He believed that they were no longer needed 
there, and that the white people and the negroes would live 
peaceably together. He was right in thinking so, and the 
soldiers were never sent back to that part of the country. 

While Hayes was President, Captain Eads contrived a 
way for making the Mississippi River clear out the mud 
from its largest mouth. This was a great help, because all 
vessels could now enter or leave the Mississippi without 
trouble. This was an immense advantage to the city of 
New Orleans. 



JAMES A. GARFIELD AND CHESTER A. ARTHUR, 
TWENTIETH AND TWENTY-FIRST PRESI- 
DENTS (1881-1885) 

249. President Garfield murdered. — Mr. Garfield had 
been President only a short time when he was shot. He 
died about two months later. The man who shot the 
President had been begging him to give him some kind of 
place where he could get good pay without doing much of 
any work. He seemed to think that it was part of the 
President's business to find or make such a place for him. 
Because Mr. Garfield did not do it he killed him. Vice 
President Arthur then became our twenty-first President. 

250. Congress makes a new law about having men 
work for the United States (1883). — The United States 
employs a great number of people to do various things.. 
It keeps thousands of clerks in Washington. Some of 
them are busy all day counting the money which comes 



284 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

in from taxes. Others are busy writing down how much 
the government pays out. Again, a great number are 
employed in the post office, looking after the mails which 
carry letters to all parts of the country. 

Still again there are many clerks whose duty it is to 
look after the war ships and the soldiers of the United 
States. They see that they have provisions sent to them, 
and powder, guns, and clothing when they need them. 

These are a few of the ways in which an army of peo- 
ple are employed by the United States (§ 281). 

After President Garfield was killed. Congress made a 
new law ^ about hiring men to work for the government. 
The object of it was to prevent people from continually 
begging the President to give them some office as a favor. 
The new law declares that those who want places must 
pass an examination to show that they are able to do the 
work. If they get through that examination their names 
are put on a list, and then they may obtain employment. 
The intention of the law is to treat all persons alike, and 
so give one man as good a chance to get something to do 
as any one else can have. 

251. How the South began to grow. — The white peo- 
ple in the southern states had a hard time of it for a long 
while after the war was over. That part of the country 
had been left very poor. The war, as we have seen 
(§ 236), destroyed a great deal of all kinds of property, 
not only mills and factories but even the railways. Now, 
too, that the negroes were free they could no longer be 
compelled to work, and many of them were lazy and would 
do nothing if they could possibly help it. 

1 The Civil Service Reform Law. 



SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 285 

But after a while the white people took heart and began 
to build everything up again. They hired the negroes to 
plant and pick cotton, and before many years had passed 
they raised more than they ever had by slave labor. 

Then the people said to themselves, Why should not we 
make cotton cloth ourselves, instead of getting it all made 
at the North ? They built factories and began to make 
their own cloth. More than that, they dug into the hillsides 
and opened iron mines and built foundries and iron mills. 

From that time the South has been growing richer. 
The people there see now that they are better off in many 
ways than they were before the war. 

252. Review. — The murder of President Garfield made 
Vice President Arthur President. 

Congress passed a law to prevent men from begging 
places and employment from the President. That law com- 
pels those who are trying to get government work to pass 
an examination first. This gives one person as good a 
chance to get employment as another. 

While Chester A. Arthur was President, the South began 
to plant a great deal more cotton, to build factories, and 
to open iron mines. The people there are now better off 
than they were before the war. 

GROVER CLEVELAND, TWENTY-SECOND PRESIDENT 

(1885-1889) 

253. The statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. — The 

year after Mr. Cleveland became our twenty-second Presi- 
dent a statue of Liberty was set up on an island in the 
harbor of New York City. It is the largest piece of work 



286 . ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

of the kind that was ever made. It is higher than most 
church steeples. 

This grand statue was given by people in France. They 
remembered what close friends Washington and Lafayette 
had been in the days of the American Revolution (§ 126). 
They wanted to show their feehng of good will to our 
country, and they did it by this gift. 

The figure of Liberty represents America — the home 
of liberty. One hand holds up a torch to give light to the 
world. At night the great torch is lighted by electricity. 
It can be seen for many miles. It serves as a guide to ves- 
sels coming up the harbor from countries beyond the sea. 

254. Congress makes two very important laws (1886, 
1887). — We have seen that four of our Presidents died ^ 
not long after they entered office and that the Vice Presi- 
dents then took their places. In this way everything 
went on quietly without making any trouble. 

But aft^r the murder of President Garfield (§ 249) 
people began to ask, What would happen if the President 
and Vice President should both die at about the same time ? 
Who would then become President ? No one could give 
a satisfactory answer to that question. 

For this reason Congress now made a law (1886) to 
meet that question. That law^ tells us what shall be done 
in case both the President and the Vice President die 
or are removed from office. It declares that if such a 
thing should happen, then one of seven members of the 

1 They were William Henry Harrison (§ 189), Zachary Taylor (§ 206), 
Abraham Lincoln in his second term of office (§ 238), and James A. Gar- 
field (§ 249). 

2 The Presidential Succession Act. 



SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 



287 



Cabinet ^ shall become President, 
the next member of 
take his place, and so 

This makes the 
safe ; because, what- 
shall always be sure to 
incr as President of the 

The followin 
passed a second law 
important. Its object 
about the election of 
there was such 
could not agree in 
of votes which had 




If he should die, then 
the Cabinet would 
on through the seven, 
country feel entirely 
ever may happen, we 
have some one act- 
United States. 
(1887) Congress 
which is also very 
is to prevent disputes 
the President. Once 
dispute. People 
regard to the number 



Some 



The Statue of Liberty 

said we had elected one man, and others that we had 
elected another. The whole country was very much 

^ The President appoints a number of persons to help him in his work 
(§ 139)- They are called the Cabinet. He frequently meets with them 
and talks about the business of the United States. 



288 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

excited over this troublesome question ; but fortunately 
for us no real harm came from it.^ 

For fear that some such thing might happen again, 
Congress made a law^ about it. This law lays down rules 
for counting the votes so that there may be no quarreling 
as to who is elected. 

255. Review. — While Grover Cleveland was President 
a grand statue of Liberty giving light to the world was 
erected on an island in the harbor of New York City. 
The statue was given to us by people in France to show 
their friendship for America, the home of liberty. 

Not long afterward Congress passed two very impor- 
tant laws. The first of these tells us who shall be Presi- 
dent in case the President and Vice President should both 
die about the same time or should be removed from office. 

The second law tells us how the votes are to be counted 
when the people elect a President. This is to prevent 
any dispute about the matter. Both laws help to make 
the country safer. 

BENJAMIN HARRISON, TWENTY-THIRD PRESIDENT 

(I 889-1 893) 

256. The President opens a new territory (1889). — If 
you look on the map facing page 305, you will see a state, 
south of the state of Kansas, called Oklahoma.^ It is an 
Indian name, and means the ''beautiful land." It was 
once a part of Indian Territory. But the United States 

1 This was 'the dispute whether Mr. Hayes or Mr. Tilden was elected 
President in 1876. 

2 The Presidential Election Act. 8 Oklahoma (6k-la-h5'ma). 



SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 289 

bought the land from the red men, and Mr. Harrison 
opened it to white men who wished to go there (1889). 

Many thousands of people had gathered, in the spring, 
close to the border of what was then the territory of Okla- 
homa. They stood ready to rush forward when the Presi- 
dent gave the word. He gave it and the ''boomers," as 
they were called, poured in like the waters of a great river 
when the dam is broken which holds them back. 

Some of the settlers made haste to put up tents to live 
in ; others nailed rough boards together and so made huts, 
or shanties. 

Before the sun set that evening the streets of Guthrie,^ 
the capital of Oklahoma, were laid out in straight lines. 
Stores were opened and people were buying and selling, 
just as they would in any city. That showed how they 
like to do things in the West. 

Since then that territory has become a populous and 
wealthy state. Once the western part was called '' No 
Man's Land," but farms and cattle pastures have spread 
in all directions. That country might now be called Some 
Man's Land, for thousands are building homes there (§ 272). 

257. Six new states come in (1889-1890) ; our new ships 
of war. — By the time the corn was gathered that year 
(1889), four new states in the northwest were admitted. 
They were Montana,^ Washington, North Dakota,^ and 
South Dakota. 

The next summer two more in the same part of the coun- 
try were admitted. They were Idaho ^ and Wyoming.^ This 
made the whole number of states in the Union forty-four. 

^ Guthrie (giith're). 2 Montana (mon-ta'na). ^ Dakota (da-k5'ta). 
* Idaho (i'da-ho). ^ Wyoming (wi-6'mTng). 



290 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

As the American republic was growing greater on land, 
it seemed but right that our power should also grow 
greater on the sea. The United States needed new 
and better ships of war. We now began to build some 
splendid steel battle ships. They were named with the 
names of states ; others were built and named after our 
cities. These beautiful vessels were painted white, and 
people called them the "White Squadron."^ We shall 
see before long what sort of fighting these ships could do 
when the country had need of them. 

258. Review. — The year that President Benjamin Har- 
rison came into office he opened the new territory of Okla- 
homa to white settlers. That territory grew very rapidly, 
and it has since become a state and added a new star to 
our flag (see page 308). 

In the course of the next two years the six states of 
Montana, Washington, North Dakota, South Dakota, 
Idaho, and Wyoming were admitted to the Union. They 
made the whole number of states forty-four. 

The United States now began to build new ships of war. 
They were constructed of steel and painted white. For 
that reason they got the name of the "White Squadron." 



GROVER CLEVELAND (SECOND ELECTION), 

TWENTY-FOURTH PRESIDENT 

(1893-1897) 

259. The great Exhibition in Chicago (1893). — Shortly 
after Grover Cleveland became President for the second 
time he opened a great exhibition at Chicago. It was 

1 Squadron (skwod'riin) : a fleet or collection of vessels. 




The Columbus Ship at the Chicago Exhibition 

(The Queen of Spain sent this ship to Chicago. It was an exact copy, in every way, of 
the vessel in which Columbus sailed when he discovered America) 



291 



292 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

called the World's Columbian Exposition/ It was a fair 
like that held in Philadelphia many years before (§ 244). 
The object of it was to celebrate the discovery of America 
by Columbus in 1492 (§ lo) and to show what great 
changes four hundred years had brought about. Among 
the new inventions which had come into use since the 
Exhibition at Philadelphia, were electric lights, electric street 
cars, and Edison's phonograph,^ or talking-machine. 

The exhibition buildings were erected on the shore of 
Lake Michigan, in Jackson Park, Chicago. 

People flocked here from all parts of the world to visit 
the " White City " which had suddenly risen on the banks 
of the lake. It was a city which seemed to have in it 
everything that was best worth seeing. These things had 
been brought not only from all parts of the United States, 
but from every country on the earth. 

There, too, on the water in front of the buildings, you 
could see a vessel made just like that in which Leif Ericson 
sailed when he discovered "Vinland the Good" (§3). 
Not far away you saw three vessels built exactly like those 
in which Columbus and his men made their wonderful 
voyage across the Atlantic in 1492. The queen of Spain 
had sent them over for us to look at. 

260. We settle a dispute with England ; a new western 
state admitted. — The year of the great Chicago fair was 
also the year in which we settled a dispute with England. 
It was about Alaska. When we bought that country 
from Russia (§ 240) we supposed that we got the right 
to shut Bering^ Sea against people of other countries who 
wanted to hunt seals there (see map on page 275). The 

^Exposition: exhibition. ^ Phonograph (fo'no-graf). ^ Bering (be'ring). 



\ 



SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 293 

fur of these creatures is very valuable, and we naturally 
wished our own people to get it all. 

But the English said there must be some mistake about 
it, and that we could not have bought the right to shut up 
Bering Sea. In old times such a dispute would have been 
pretty sure to have ended in war. But the United States 
and England did not mean to fight each other. Instead 
of telling the commanders of their war ships to make 
ready for battle, they agreed on a better plan. They said. 
We will leave the question to seven fair-minded men. They 
shall decide it for us both. 

The seven men met and talked the matter over. Then 
they made up their minds what ought to be done. They 
said, Bering Sea must be kept open to everybody. But the 
United States has the right to protect the seals, and they 
must not be hunted and killed except at certain times in 
the year. 

Since then we have decided a number of other disputes 
with England, and with other countries, too. We have 
decided them in the same way ; that is, by letting a num- 
ber of fair-minded men say what should be done. When 
that is possible, it is a better way than fighting. 

Before Mr. Cleveland went out of office we added another 
state to the Union (1896). This was Utah (§ 199). It 
made the forty-fifth state in the republic, and so it made 
the whole number of stars on our flag forty-five (§ 128). 

261. Review. — While Grover Cleveland was Presi- 
dent for the second time a great exhibition was opened 
at Chicago. The object of it was to celebrate rtie dis- 
covery of America by Columbus, four hundred years 
before, and to show how our country had grown. 



294 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

We also settled a dispute with England about hunting 
seals in Bering Sea. It was agreed that the sea must 
be kept open to everybody, but that the United States 
could prevent any one from killing the seals except at 
certain times in the year. 

Utah was admitted as the forty-fifth state in the 
Union. It also made the forty-fifth star on that flag 
which we are all proud of, and which we all honor. 



WILLIAM McKINLEY AND THEODORE ROOSEVELT, 

TWENTY-FIFTH AND TWENTY-SIXTH 

PRESIDENTS (1897-1905) 

262. How the people of Spain lost possession of America. 

— You remember that when Columbus discovered America 
he took possession of it for the king and queen of Spain 
(§ 10). The Spaniards then came over and made settle- 
ments in Cuba and other islands of the West Indies. 
Then they conquered Mexico and Florida, and built towns 
in those countries. 

For a long time the Spaniards were the only white 
men who had any settlements in any part of North 
America. For this reason they said that the whole 
country — including all of what is now the United States 

— belonged to them, and that no one else had any right 
to come here. 

Next, we have seen how, piece by piece, the Spaniards 
lost possession of this great country. First, the Eng- 
lish settled Virginia and the other colonies in the east. 
Secondly, the French got that immense piece called Lou- 
isiana, whkh they sold to us (§ 1 5 i). Thirdly, the king of 



SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 



295 



Spain sold Florida to us (§ 167). Then the people of 
Mexico broke loose from Spain and drove the Spanish 
soldiers out of the land. 

At last, the Spaniards had nothing at all left on the main- 
land or continent of North America. But they still owned 
several islands in the West Indies. The two largest and 
best of these were Cuba and Porto Rico^ (see map below). 




^jjjaiimiiiii>^^ 



263. The people of Cuba fight Spain ; the destruction of 

the Maine (1898). — The king of Spain treated the peo- 
ple of Cuba so badly that most of them resolved to fight. 
War began between the Cubans and the Spaniards. 

Many Cubans were starved to death. Finally, President 
McKinley told the Spaniards that they must find some 
way of helping those who were dying for want of food. 

Shortly after that we sent the Maine, one of our new war 
ships (§ 257), to visit the city of Havana (see map above). 
While the Maine was lying at anchor in the harbor of that 
city she was blown to pieces and a great many of her offi- 
cers and crew were killed (1898). We tried to find out 
what caused the explosion, but we did not succeed ; though 

1 Porto Rico (por'to re'kd). 



296 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

most people thought that the Spaniards blew her up. 
Still, even to-day, no one can say just how the Maine 
was destroyed. 

264. We make war on Spain; the battle of Manila,^ 
1898. — Then President McKinley said, The war in 
Cuba must stop. Next, Congress declared the people 
of Cuba independent. At the same time Congress told 
the king of Spain ^ that all Spanish soldiers must be called 
home from Cuba, and the people there must be left to 
govern themselves. 

Spain refused to give Cuba her freedom, so, in the spring 
of 1898, we sent two fleets of war ships to make her do it. 
War then began between Spain and the United States. 

We sent two fleets because we meant to strike Spain 
at two different points at the same time. One fleet was 
ordered to go to Cuba ; the other was ordered to go to 
the Philippine ^ Islands, in the Pacific Ocean (see map on 
page 301). These islands belonged to Spain. If, then, 
we hit Spain in Cuba, and also hit her in the Philippines, 
we should give her one hard knock on one side of the 
world, and, at the same time, we should give her another 
on the other side. 

Now it so happened that the people of the Philippines 
hated the Spaniards quite as much as the Cubans did, and 
they had long been fighting to get free. 

The largest city in the Philippines is Manila, and the 
Spaniards had a number of war ships in the harbor of that 
city to guard against any attack .by us. 

1 ^Manila (ma-niFa). 

2 The king of Spain was then too young to rule, and his mother acted 
in his place ; but everything was done in his name. He is now king. 

8 Philippine (firip-in). 



SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 



297 



President McKinley ordered Commodore 1 Dewey to go 
to Manila and capture or destroy the Spanish fleet there. 
Commodore Dewey sailed at once. 

Not long afterward he sent word to the President that 
he had destroyed every vessel of the Spanish fleet. In 
the fight not one of our men was killed. It was a wonder- 
ful piece of work ; it showed that Americans can fire a 
cannon ball straight to the mark. We had hit Spain in 
the Philippines, now we were going to try to hit her 
in Cuba. 

265. Fighting in Cuba ; the land battle of Santiago.^ — 
The President sent an army to Cuba and at the same 
time he sent a fleet of our new war ships (§ 257), under 
command of Captain Sampson,^ to help them. 

Among those who went along with our regular army 
there were a number of young men that the people called 
the << Rough Riders." That was because many of them 
came from the West, and part of them had been cowboys. 
The cowboys look after the great herds of cattle, and as 
they spend most of their time on horseback they can ride 
the wildest pony that ever galloped across the plains. It 
was in that kind of outdoor school that " Buffalo Bill " 
(§ 201) got much of his early education. 

Colonel Theodore Roosevelt had spent a good deal of 
time at the West, and he knew all about cowboys. In the 
course of the war in Cuba he had command of the "Rough 
Riders." They did some very sharp fighting, but they 
did it on foot. Most of the battles there were fought by 
the regular soldiers of the United States army. 

1 He was later made admiral. ^ Santiago (san-te a'go). 

8 Captain Sampson was later made admiral. 



298 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

In the summer of 1 898 a battle took place near the city 
of Santiago on the southern coast of Cuba. The Span- 
iards held the top of some steep hills, and they thought 
that they could stop our men from coming up by building 
barbed-wire fences. 

Now a barbed-wire fence is an ugly thing to run against 
anywhere ; but our soldiers rushed up the hills, broke 
through the fences, and drove off the Spaniards. 

The enemy then took refuge in Santiago, where a num- 
ber of Spanish war ships had already slyly crept into the 
harbor. 

266. The battle at sea at Santiago Captain Samp- 
son's war ships were waiting outside to catch the Spanish 
vessels when they appeared. 

Presently some of the men on board the Brookly7i, 
Commodore Schley's ^ ship, shouted, " Here come the 
Spaniards!" Sure enough, their vessels were slipping 
out of the harbor of Santiago. 

Our ships and theirs began to fire at each other at the 
same moment. But the Spaniards did not do any better 
than they had done at Manila (§ 264). In a very short time 
nothing was left of their fleet but some blazing wrecks. 

We took the Spanish commander and most of his men 
prisoners, and carried them to one of the northern states. 
The poor fellows were terribly frightened, for they thought 
that we should fasten them down with chains and starve 
them. 

267. The end of the war with Spain (1898). — The war 
with Spain now came to an end. The king of that coun- 
try gave Cuba her freedom. To-day Cuba is a republic, 

1 Schley (sly or schla) ; he was made an admiral not long after this. 



SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 



299 



Etnd has a president and congress. Next, the king of 
Spain sold the PhiUppine Islands to us (§ 264) for twenty 
millions of dollars. 

Besides that, he gave us the island of Porto Rico in the 
West Indies, and the little island of Guam, ^ east of the 
Philippines (see map on page 301). 

Now that the war was over, something had to be done 
about the Spanish prisoners that we had taken and sent 










Battle of Santiago 



North (§266). What had we done to them.? This is 
what we did : There is an old and very wise Book which 
says, "If thine enemy hunger, feed him ; if he thirst, give 
him drink." We did to the Spanish prisoners, in Nev/ 

1 Guam (gA\'am). 



300 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Hampshire, what that Book tells us to do. The terrible 
Yankees treated them so well that they hardly wanted to 
go back to Spain again. When they sailed away they 
gave three rousing cheers for the people of the United 
States. We can be very certain that we have no better 
friends anywhere than those men are to-day. 

268. Hawaii^ and our other new island possessions. — 
Just before our war with Spain came to an end we added 
a group of islands in the Pacific. These were the islands 
of Hawaii.^ They are about twenty-five hundred miles 
southwest of San Francisco (see map on page 301). 
Many of the people of Hawaii were friendly to us and 
wished to see their country become a part of the 
American republic. 

These islands, with those which we obtained from Spain 
(§ 267), make the eighth lot of land which we have added 
to the Unij:ed States. 

Look at the map on page 301 and you will see how we 
have grown since Washington became our first President. 

First, we added the Louisiana Country (1803) ; secondly, 
the territory of Florida (18 19) ; thirdly, the great state of 
Texas (1 845) ; fourthly, the Oregon Country (i 846) ; fifthly, 
California, New Mexico, and Utah (1848); sixthly, the 
piece of land called the "Gadsden Purchase" (1853); 
seventhly, the territory of Alaska (1867) ; eighthly, the 
island of Porto Rico in the Atlantic Ocean, besides 
Hawaii, Guam, and the Philippines in the Pacific.^ 

1 Hawaii (ha-\vi'e). 

2 They are sometimes called the Sandwich Islands. 

3 See §§ 151, 167, 192, 194, 196, 240, 267, 268, and maps on pages i68, 
185, 211, 215, 218, 219, 275, 301. 



302 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

To-day the flag of the United States floats over the larger 
part of the best lands of the North American continent, 
and over islands which extend halfway around the globe. 

269. How our people have grown in numbers The 

people of the United States have grow^n in numbers just 
as the republic has grown in territory. You remember 
that, when Washington was President, Congress ordered 
a census, or count, of the people to be made (§ 141). This 
was the first time it had been done. It was found then 
that the whole number of people (1790) was not quite 
four millions. 

While Mr. McKinley was President Congress took the 
twelfth census in 1900, and we then found that we had 
more than seventy-six millions. That showed that we 
had nearly twenty times as many people as we had in the 
time of our first President.^ 

270. The Mutineers; President McKinley murdered; 
Vice President Roosevelt becomes President (1901). — 
But although our country had grown greater in every way, 
and although no people in the world were so well off as 
ours, still a few w^ere discontented. They belonged to a 
small class who can be found everywhere. They say 
they do not want any president, any congress, or any 
law whatever. They w^ant to do just as they please in 
everything. 

A number of sailors tried that a great many years ago.^ 
They did not like the way in w^hich the captain managed 
the ship, so they rose and took possession of it themselves. 

^ In 1910 we had over 93,000 000, exclusive of the Phihppines. 
2 This was the famous mutiny on the EngHsh ship Bounty, in 1789, 
The mutineers made a settlement on Pitcaim Island. 






^^ " £*3s '?^^|pg55: . 





The Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis 
(After the official Panorama) 



304 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

A part of these mutineers took a few natives as companions 
and settled on Pitcairn Island in the Pacific Ocean. 

There they determined to live just as they liked. They 
resolved to have no rules and no law about anything. No 
one was to own any land, but each man was to build a 
hut wherever he saw fit, and spend his time in any way 
that he fancied. They believed that in that way they 
should make sure of being perfectly happy. 

Well, they were happy for a little while. Then they be- 
gan to' quarrel among themselves. There was no power to 
stop them or to make peace among them. In a few years 
so many of the mutineers had been killed, or had killed each 
other, that it seemed certain all must soon perish. At last 
death reduced them to two. The loss of their comrades 
taught these two men this great lesson : that no class of 
people can live together long unless they have some kind 
of government and laws. Because they discovered that 
truth, the island still has a small number of inhabitants. 

But unfortunately there are a few people in the world 
who feel as the mutineers did before they had learned 
how impossible it is to live without a government. 

One of these men shot President McKinley (190 1). He 
was a young man, the son of some immigrants who had 
come to our country from Europe. He had no reason for 
killing the President. He was simply discontented with 
everything and everybody. This discontent led him to 
murder the man who stood highest in the nation. 

Then Vice President Roosevelt (§ 265) became the 
twenty-sixth President of the United States. 

271. President Roosevelt sends a telegram around the 
world (1903). — On the Fourth of July, 1903, some of our 



SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 



305 



people completed a great piece of work. They finished 
laying an American telegraph cable from San Francisco t© 
Hawaii, and from those islands to Manila in the Philip- 
pines (see map on page 301). 

That cable connects with one which goes to Hong Kong, 
China, and then around the world. 




President Roosevelt writing the Telegram which went around 
THE World 

On Independence Day President Roosevelt sent the 
first words which passed over the new cable. They were 
words which told of our good will. Standing in a room 
in the President's summer home at Oyster Bay, on Long 
Island, the telegraph operator flashed the electric message 
westward. 



3o6 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Let us follow it on its path. First, it passed across our 
continent to San Francisco ; then it passed by the new 
American cable across the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii and 
to Manila ; from Manila it went by cable to Hong Kong, 
China; from China it went to India; from India to Suez; 
from Suez to Gibraltar ; thence on to Lisbon and the 
Islands of the Azores ; and then on, by cable, across the 
Atlantic to New York, and back to Oyster Bay. 

It took only twelve minutes for the President's mes- 
sage to circle the globe — a distance of twenty-five 
thousand miles. 

The United States was the first nation that ever sent 
such a message clear around the earth. In one way that 
meant that the power and the good will of America now 
make themselves felt on every continent in the world. 

272. The Panama Canal ; St. Louis Fair ; Presidential 
Election ; San Francisco Earthquake ; Oklahoma. — In 
1904 the United States bought the right of way across the 
Isthmus of Panama,! for $10,000,000. At the same time 
we bought from a French Company the Panama Canal, 
which was partly dug. For this we paid $40,000,000. 

Ten years later we finished the great work ; now our mer- 
chant ships and our war ships, besides foreign vessels, can 
pass directly through from ocean to ocean instead of having 
to go around South America (see page 318). This saves 
many thousands of miles and many weeks of time. 

1 We bought this right of way — a strip of land ten miles in width, 
extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific — from the new Republic of 
Panama, which was a part of Colombia, but which declared itself inde- 
pendent in 1904. 



SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 307 

Four hundred years ago Columbus tried in vain to find 
a passage through America to the Indies (§ 1 1). In 1914 
we cut one through mountains of rock and so made the 
way which Columbus sought (§ 283). The whole world 
is glad of our success, for the whole world is certain that 
it wants the Panama Canal. 

The World's Fair at St. Louis was opened April 30, 
1904. The object of this great Exhibition was to celebrate 
the purchase of Louisiana Territory a hundred years ago 
(§ 151). The walks and roadways of the Exposition ex- 
tended over seventy-five miles, while the chief buildings 
covered nearly a hundred and thirty acres. When all was 
ready, President Roosevelt pressed an electric button in the 
White House at Washington. Instantly all the machinery 
of the Fair was set in motion and the water of the wonder- 
ful cascades was turned on. It was a grand and beautiful 
sight. The Fair called attention to two very important 
facts — the beginning, and the marvelous growth, of that 
part of the American republic which lies between the Mis- 
sissippi River and the Rocky Mountains. A century ago 
that country was a wilderness ; to-day it is populous with 
the strong, active life of the great West. 

273. Review. — While Mr. McKinley was President the 
United States war ship Maine was blown up in Havana, 
Cuba ; soon afterward we began war against Spain in order 
to help the Cuban people who were fighting to make their 
island independent of Spanish rule. 

We were successful in the war, and we forced the King 
of Spain to grant Cuba her freedom, to give us possession 
of Porto Rico, and to sell us the Philippines. Meanwhile 
we had got peaceful possession of Hawaii, so that at the 



308 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

end of the contest the United States was the owner of one 
valuable island in the Atlantic and of many valuable islands 
in the Pacific (see map on page 301). 

Not long after that, President McKinley was murdered, 
and Vice President Roosevelt became President. On the 
Fourth of July, 1903, an American company completed lay- 
ing a telegraphic cable from San Francisco to Manila in the 
Philippines, and Mr. Roosevelt sent the first message round 
the world which passed over that cable. The next year 
we got ready to begin digging the Panama Canal, and the 
people of the West opened a World's Fair at St. Louis to 
celebrate the wonderful growth of our country between the 
Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. 

THEODORE ROOSEVELT, TWENTY-SEVENTH 
PRESIDENT (1905-1909) 

274. The San Francisco earthquake ; admission of Okla- 
homa. — In the spring of 1906 a terrible earthquake shook 
down many buildings in San Francisco. Then fires broke 
out in the ruins and destroyed a large part of what was left 
of the city. The homes of several hundred thousand people 
were swept away, and they had to sleep on the ground in the 
public parks. The Government at Washington sent tents to 
shelter them, and all America set to work with a will to send 
them money, food, and clothing. But though great num- 
bers of the people of San Francisco lost everything, they 
did not lose their energy and courage. They have rebuilt 
the city and have made it more beautiful than ever. 

Late in the autumn of 1907 Oklahoma was admitted 
to the Union (§ 256). It was formed by uniting Indian 



SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 309 

Territory with the Territory of Oklahoma. It made the 
forty-sixth state and added the forty-sixth star to our 
national flag (§ 128). 

275. The great cruise of our war ships ; saving the 
good things America possesses. — In the last month of 
1 907 a fleet of sixteen of our great battle ships set out from 
Hampton Roads, Virginia, on a voyage round the world. 
Admiral Evans, the commander of the fleet, said that he and 
his brave sailors '' were ready for a feast, a frolic, or a fight." 

When President Roosevelt bade them good-by, he 
declared that no fleet of such size had ever before under- 
taken such a voyage. The ships steamed down the coast 
of South America, passed through the Straits of Magellan 
into the Pacific, and then went north to San Francisco 
and other points on the coast. Then sailing westward 
they visited Japan, China, and Australia, passed through 
the Red Sea and the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean, 
and across the Atlantic homeward. They reached their 
starting place on Washington's Birthday, 1909, and were 
enthusiastically welcomed by the President. The entire 
voyage covered more than 40,000 miles. It was a success 
from beginning to end. Wherever the ships stopped they 
found thousands glad to welcome them and wish them 
good luck. The feast and the frolic were sure to be ready, 
but nobody wanted the fight, so that was always left out. 

In the spring of 1908 President Roosevelt invited the 
governors of all the states and territories to meet him at 
Washington. He there talked over with them the best plan 
for saving the natural riches of America, in order that those 
who come after us may enjoy them and get good from them. 
Some of these natural riches are the forests which give us 



3IO ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

lumber to build our houses and fence our farms. Then come 
our farming lands, our coal, iron, and copper mines, and the 
streams which make the soil bring forth our daily bread. 

The President urged the governors to do all in their 
power to preserve, and at the same time wisely use, these 
gifts of nature so that they may not be wasted and lost. 
This is one of the most important things that the Ameri- 
can people have taken in hand, and in some way every one 
of us can do his part to help it forward. 

276. Review. — During Mr. Roosevelt's second Presi- 
dency San Francisco was partially destroyed by earthquake 
and fire in 1906, but the people began immediately to 
rebuild the city. The next year Oklahoma was admitted to 
the Union as the forty-sixth state. In the last month of 
that year the United States sent out a fleet of our war ships 
on a great cruise round the world. 

The following spring Preside-nt Roosevelt invited the 
governors of all the states and territories to meet him at 
Washington. There they talked over the very important 
question of how to save the natural wealth of our country, 
such as the farming lands, forests, and streams, together 
with the mines of coal, copper, and iron, so that we might 
use these things without wasting or destroying them. 

WILLIAM H. TAFT, TWENTY-EIGHTH PRESIDENT 
(1909-1913) 

277. A great American discovery. — In the spring of 
1909 Commander Robert E. Peary, an officer in the United 
States navy,i started out from Cape Columbia, on the upper 

1 Later Congress made Commander Peary a Rear Admiral. 



SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 



311 




■R, ^ Peary 1909 ^ 



coast of Canada, to make a journey across the ice to the 
farthest North (see map below). Many other noted sea 
captains and explorers from different parts of the world 
had set out, for upward of a hundred years, to do the same 
thing, but every one of them had failed. What they all 
wanted to do was to reach the North Pole, but that seemed 
impossible. No wonder it 
appeared so, for when the sea 
around the Pole was open it 
was filled with huge masses of 
floating ice which could crush 
the strongest vessel as easily 
as you could crush an egg- 
shell. On the other hand, 
when that sea was frozen 
over it made a vast ice field 
extending for hundreds of 
miles, but that immense field 
was all the while cracking 
and breaking up. If men 
tried to get across the broad channels of water which sud- 
denly appeared before them, every man of them might 
be drowned. 

To avoid that danger some expeditions would try to travel 
around those channels, but in that case they might have 
to go so far that they would die of starvation before they 
accomplished their object. 

Commander Peary knew better than most men just what 
to do in such cases, for he had been exploring the North 
for more than twenty years. He made every possible prep- 
aration for this last journey, and when he set out with his 




Peary's Route to the Pole 



312 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Eskimo Indians to help him, and with his sleds laden with 
provisions and drawn by Eskimo dogs, he believed that he 
should cross the frozen sea in safety. It took five weeks 
of hard and hazardous work to do it, but at length he felt 
that he had succeeded, and that he had actually reached the 
North Pole.i There, on top of the globe, he hoisted the 
American flag. There too, at that spot where no flag of 
any nation had ever been seen before, he and his men lustily 
cheered the " Stars and Stripes " which waved above their 
heads. Since that time you will find Commander Peary's 
name printed on all the maps of the world. 

278. What the census of 1910 told us. — A little more 
than a year later the Census Department finished counting 
the people of the United States. The Department told us 
that our national flag floated over a family of Americans, 
on this continent, numbering nearly 92,000,000, and that, 
adding our Island Possessions, we had over 100,000,000 
inhabitants in all. 

Nearly the whole of this great number find plenty of work 
to do, and nearly all have made themselves comfortable 
homes. Furthermore, not a few of them have put money 
in the bank, and year by year they add more to it. 

Taking our country through, probably nowhere could we 
find a more contented and prosperous population than our 

1 Read Commander Peary's account of his crossing the great ice field 
from Cape Columbia to the North Pole in his book on " The North 
Pole." The exact position of the Pole can only be determined by very 
careful observations and calculations, which have to be repeated many 
times. Commander Peary did all these things, but unfortunately he had 
not taken any one with him on the last stage of the great journey who 
was able to help him in this v/ork and so render it absolutely certain that 
there was no mistake. 



SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 313 

own. Here in America we have every variety of climate 
and soil for farming and fruit raising, besides every oppor- 
tunity for all other kinds of industry both on land and water. 
In some parts of Europe the people are crowded together 
in such narrow space that, as they themselves say, " they 
have to tread on each other's heels." Here there is no 
lack of room for every one to move in all directions, to 
labor in many occupations, and to freely run the race of life 
and take whatever prize he has strength and skill to win. 

Here, too, we have 
harnessed electricity 
and gasoline to ma- T' 

chines which are not iEl 

only ready to carry ■ 
us wherever we want 
to go, but which can 
be made, in differ- 
ent forms, to help us " v^ 

in our daily work on a a ^ 

-^ An Auto Truck 

farms and in factories 

and mills. The trolley cars and automobiles show the speed 
movement of our time, while the huge auto trucks, which 
hum up hills with loads that horses could not move even 
on a level, show us what can be done in heavy hauling. 

279. New Mexico and Arizona ; the boundary ; the elec- 
tion, 1912. — Two years after the census count was com- 
pleted, the states of New Mexico and Arizona were admitted 
to the Union. They make forty-eight states in all, and our 
flag represents them fcy its forty-eight stars. 

The only territor\' belonging to us now on the Ameri- 
can continent is Alaska. That territory is many hundred 




314 ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

miles north of our boundary line with Canada, and it is a 
great deal bigger than the states of Washington, Oregon, 
California, New Mexico, and Arizona put together. In 
looking at the map (facing page 274) it will be well worth 
while for us to examine that boundary carefully because it 
is the Line of Peace — the only great line of the kind be- 
tween any two of the leading nations of the world. You will 
find, if you trace it, that it extends nearly 4000 miles, yet 
in all that long distance, reaching from Eastport, Maine, to 
Vancouver, British Columbia, it has not so much as a single 
fort or soldier to guard either side of it. By the middle 
of January, 191 5, a little over a century had passed since 
our War of 1812 with England ended (§ 163). During the 
whole of that time, with a single exception, ^ and that more 
than seventy years ago, neither our country nor Canada has 
pointed a gun at the other. Sometimes, it is true, we have 
not agreed respecting what ought or ought not to be done. 
Sometimes both of us have talked pretty loud, — or have 
let the newspapers talk for us, — but notwithstanding this 
we have acted like good neighbors and good friends, and 
*' actions," we know, ** speak louder than words." 

Our exciting Presidential election of November, 19 12, did 
not disturb this friendly relation in any way. On that occa- 
sion the Democratic party chose, by a very large majority. 
Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey to be President 

^ In 1837, during a rebellion in Canada, the Caroline, a small Ameri- 
can steamboat on the Niagara River, was used to help the people in 
revolt. The Canadian government dispatched a party of armed men 
who crossed the river and attacked the crew of the Caroline, killing 
one man. The Canadians then set fire to the boat and sent it in flames 
over the Falls. See the " Student's American History " in this series, 
page 364. 



SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 315 

of the United States (with Governor Thomas R. Marshall, 
of Indiana, for Vice President). 

280. Review. — Soon after Mr. Taft became President, 
Commander Peary (now Admiral Peary) of the United 
States Navy, made the great discovery of the North Pole. 
In 19 10 the census showed that we had a population of 
nearly a hundred millions — or of more than a hundred 
millions if we counted in the inhabitants of our Island Pos- 
sessions. Two years later (191 2) New Mexico and Arizona 
entered the Union. This makes the whole number of states 
forty-eight. If we look at them on the map of our countr)^ 
(page 304), we shall see on the northern border, extending 
between us and Canada, that great Line of Peace which 
needs no soldiers and no forts to guard either side of it. 

WOODROW WILSON, TWENTY-NINTH PRESIDENT 

(191 3-1 91 7) 

281. The National Capital ; where the United States 
keeps its money. — In March (191 3) thousands of pec»ple 
went to Washington — many of them for the first time — 
to see President Wilson begin his work there, and also to 
see what every American feels is the most interesting city 
in the Republic. 

Among the numerous public buildings which are sure to 
attract attention there are two which all wish to visit. One 
is the Capitol, with its lofty white dome on which stands a 
statue of Liberty ; here Congress meets to make the laws 
which govern the United States. The other building is the 
White House, where the President lives whose duty it is to 
see that these laws are faithfully obeyed. 



3i6 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



Between these two famous buildings there stands another 
immense structure called the Treasury. Nobody is willing 
to pass that without stopping to look in, because that 
building represents the money power of the United States. 
Those who visit it find that its vaults or cellars contain 
heaps of gold in bars, and bags of shining gold coins, to- 
gether with many tons of silver bars and silver dollars. In 
addition to these riches, there are rooms where the govern- 
ment prints great stacks of its own bills and also of national 
bank bills such as we like to line our pocketbooks with. 



^-^^ 



^iT^ri^^:?'^"^ 



s^iliH^ii^=J«^ 






M J 1 B H B 




&?,*7^ i* 



The United States Treasury 

Another thing which makes the Treasury Building inter- 
esting is the fact that all the money raised by taxes for the 
use of the United States is deposited there for safe-keeping. 
This stock of cash, amounting to hundreds of millions of 
dollars, is paid out by the Treasury in different ways. Some 
of it goes to thousands of clerks who are working for the 
government in Washington or elsewhere (§ 250). But a 
far larger part goes to the soldiers in our army and the 
sailors in our navy, who stand ready at all times to fight in 



SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 317 

our defense. Again, another part may be used to construct 
new battle ships or to complete the Panama Canal (§ 272), 
which we expect to open soon. Since Washington was 
President, the expenses of the government have increased 
enormously. For every dollar we spent then, we spend 
more than a hundred now. 

282. The new Tariff ; celebration at Gettysburg. — In 
order to get money to meet these expenses, Congress (191 3) 
passed a new Tariff law (§ 140). That law lays a tax on 
goods coming into the United States from foreign countries, 
and as fast as the money is collected it is locked up in the 
Treasury to be used when needed. The new tariff is not 
expected to bring in as much cash as the old tariff did, be- 
cause in many cases the tax is lower, and also because more 
articles are allowed to come in free. For the purpose of 
getting the full amount required. Congress passed another 
law, which demands that well-to-do people shall pay a tax on 
part of the money they receive in the course of every year.^ 
This is the Income Tax that we hear so much talk about. 

While Congress was busy over these things a great cele- 
bration took place in southern Pennsylvania. You remem- 
ber that early in July, 1863, two armies of young men met 
on the field of Gettysburg (§ 227). One of these armies 
came from the North, the other from the South ; they 
rushed madly upon each other and fought the most terrible 
battle of the Civil War. Well, just fifty years afterward, 
fifty thousand of these men, who had grown gray with age, 
met again on the same field. This time they rushed for- 
ward full of joy to greet each other. All feelings of anger 

1 No one is required to pay any of this tax except on so much of his 
income as rises above ^3000 a year. 



3lS ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

and hatred had passed away, for these old soldiers had now 
become the best of friends. It was a happy occasion for 
them, and a good thing for our country that they lived to 
celebrate such a day. 

283. The Great European War ; the World's Fair at San 
Francisco. — In the summer of 1914 a terrible war began 
in Europe between Germany and Austria, on one side, and 
Russia, France, and England on the other. Later, several 
other nations entered the war. Our country resolved to 
stand neutral and not take any part in the fighting if we 
could avoid it ; we also resolved to help the nations make 
peace whenever they should ask us to do so. 

In February, 191 5, a World's Fair was opened at San 
Francisco, to celebrate Balboa's discovery of the Pacific 
Ocean four hundred years ago (§ 15), and also the com- 
pletion of the Panama Canal — the greatest work of the 
kind in the world. 

V^isitors at the Exhibition were able to talk across the 
Continent by telephone (§ 191), and they had the pleasure 
of seeing many remarkable inventions which Americans 
had made and improved until they seemed to be prac- 
tically perfect. Prominent among these inventions were 
automobiles^ (§278); airships, or aeroplanes 2; flying- 
boats, or hydroplanes^; diving-boats, or submarines^; and 
Edison's new moving pictures, more wonderful than ever, 
because shown in all the beauty of their natural colors.^ 

284. The United States enters the Great War. — In less 
than two years after the San Francisco Exhibition closed 

1 Automobiles (avv-to-mo'bils). ^ Aeroplanes (a'er-o-planes). 

^ Hydroplanes (hrdro-planes). * Submarines (sub-ma-reens'). 

5 See Montgomery's " Beginners' American History," pp. 262-277. 



SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 319 

we entered the European War, and in the spring of 191 7 
began to send ships and men to battle against Germany. 

Never in the whole course of our history as a nation 
had we taken up arms for a better reason. There was 
nothing rash, nothing sudden, in our determination not to 
stand neutral any longer. We had hoped that we could 
keep at peace. In fact, many persons voted for President 
Wilson's reelection because they declared, *' He has kept 
us out of the war " ; and we had tried earnestly and faith- 
fully to keep out of it by every honorable means. But at 
last we had come to see that it was impossible. We saw 
it because German submarines were deliberately destroying 
American merchant vessels and American lives, and they 
were doing it, as President Wilson said, ''without warning 
and without thought of help or mercy." ^ 

Under such circumstances we were forced to choose 
one of two things : we must either abandon our right to 
cross the Atlantic in our own vessels engaged on peaceful 
errands and in lawful trade or we must defend ourselves 
and our property on the sea — the sea which is open freely 
to all nations. 

After weary months of waiting, talking, and writing we 
finally made up our minds, once for all, that there was 

^ This quotation and the one on page 320 are from President Wilson's 
War Address to Congress, April 2, 191 7. An edition of the Address, 
with interesting and valuable notes, was pubhshed in June, 1917, by 
the Committee on Public Information, Washington, D.C. In response 
to that Address, Congress, on April 6, 191 7, voted, by a very large 
majority, that since the German Government had committed " repeated 
acts of war " against the United States we were resolved to " carry on 
war" against that Government until we should "bring the conflict to a 
successful termination." 



,20 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



nothing left for us to do but to marshal our military 
strength to fight against the Power that had long been 
fighting against us, both openly and secretly. For this 
reason we are building fleets of war ships to go forth on 
the sea and in the air, and we are raising hundreds of 
thousands of men to go abroad and lay down their lives, if 
need be, for the sake of America. It is a hard thing for 
■our peace-loving country to undertake, but 't God helping 
her, she can do no other." 




,^^^^p*c^>^ 



QUESTIONS ON ELEMENTARY AMERICAN 
HISTORY 



§ 1. Where did the Northmen live? What did they do in England? 

§ 2. What island did they discover northwest of England ? What 
country did Eric the Red discover? 

§ 3. What land did Leif Ericson discover about the year looo? 

§ 4. Where was Vinland? Did the Northmen discover America? 
Did they keep their hold on the country or did they lose it? 

§ 5. Have the Northmen done anything for America since? Can any 
Northmen's names be seen here? What are they? Are the Northmen 
still coming here ? 

§ 6. What happened nearly five hundred years after Leif Ericson 
found Vinland? Where was Columbus born? What did he do when he 
was a boy ? Where did the spices, silks, and pearls come from ? Did 
they come all the way by water? Did that make them cheaper or dearer? 

§ 7. How did Columbus think that he could get to the Indies? Who 
helped him to fit out some vessels? How many vessels did he have? 

§ 8. From what port did he sail ? When did he sail? To what islands 
did he go? Why did he go to those islands? How far did he think it 
was from Spain to the Indies ? How far is it? 

§ 9. When did Columbus leave the Canary Islands? How did the 
sailors feel about going? What happened after they had been at sea 
about ten days? What did they think about the seaweed they ran into? 
What did they notice about the w'ind? What did they think about it? 
What did Columbus do ? 

§ 10. What happened the next day? What did the seaman on the 
watch cry out the following night? What did Columbus see w^hen the 
sun rose on October 12, 1492? What did he do? What did he name 
the island? What did he name all the islands w^hich he saw? Why? 
What did he call the people who lived on these islands? Why did he 
call them by that name? 

§ 11. How was Columbus received when he returned to Spain? What 
did the people of Spain think he had discovered? Did he ever get to 
the Indies? Why not? What did he think the seacoast was? What 
did he try to do? What happened to Columbus? How had he failed? 
How had he succeeded? Did he discover any country greater and richer 
than the Indies? 

§ 12. Did Columbus ever set foot on any part of the mainland of 
North America? What part of the continent was it? What did John 
Cabot do in 1497 ? Where did Cabot live ? Why did he make a voyage 
to the west? When did he see land? What land did he probably see? 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



What did he do there? Whose country did this become ? Did the Eng- 
hsh come here at once and make settlements? When did they come? 

§ 13. What voyage did Amerigo Vespucci make? What did he call 
the countries he visited? What did the teacher who was getting out a 
geography call this country? Why did he call it by that name? What 
year was that ? 

§ 14. Review. When did Leif Ericson discover America? What did 
he call the land he discovered? Did the Northmen stay in Vinland? 
Did they get any good from their discovery? 

Who was Christopher Columbus? From what country did he set out 
to find a short way to the Indies by water? When did he discover 
America? What did he think the land was? What did he call it? 
What did he name the inhabitants? 

Who was John Cabot ? When did he sail? From what place did he 
sail? Where did he land? When did he land? What did he do about 
the country he had discovered ? 

Who was Amerigo Vespucci? From what country did he sail ? What 
did he discover? What did he do? What name was given to the '* New 
World" in 1507? 

§ 15. What did the Spaniards discover? What name did they give to 
the country? What ocean did some Spaniards discover? What country 
did they conquer? Tell all you can about Coronado. What did he see? 
How far east did he get ? What is said about De Soto ? Where was he 
buried? What fort did the Spaniards build in Florida? What year did 
they build it? What is the oldest town in the United States? 

§ 16. Tell about Sir Francis Drake's voyage. Where did he land? 
What did he do in Oregon ? What did Sir Walter Raleigh do? Where 
did Raleigh's men land? What did the Indians do? What did Queen 
Elizabeth name the country? How large was that country? 

§ 17. What did Sir Walter Raleigh try to do? Did he succeed? 
What two things did he get from Virginia ? What white men had pos- 
session of America in 1600? Were there any English settlements left 
here then? 

§ 18. Review. What country did the Spaniards discover? What 
country did they take possession of? What did Coronado and De Soto 
do? What river did De Soto discover? Who built St. Augustine in 
Florida in 1565? What is said about that town? 

What did the French try to do ? What two countries did the English 
take possession of ? What is said about Sir Walter Raleigh? What did 
he get from Virginia? 

Who were the only white men left in North America in 1600? What 
did they declare ? 

§ 19. What is said about the Indians? How did they live? What 
animals did they have ? Did they have any iron or steel tools ? What did 
they have? What did they use to shoot with ? Did the Indian children 
go to school? What did they know? Did they have any books ? What 
could they do ? 

§ 20. How did the Indians get their living ? What did the men do ? 
Who did the work? Tell what they did. Who did the moving? Wha 
built the wigwams ? 



QUESTIONS iii 

§ 21. Did the Indians have any roads? What did they have? What 
is said about their trails ? What changes did the white men make in 
these trails? What is said about the trails and our railways? What 
other ways did the Indians have of getting through the country ? 

§ 22. Was the whole number of Indians very large ? Why not ? Why 
did the Indians need a great deal of woodland? What often made 
trouble between the white settlers and the Indians ? Did the Indians 
ever clear the land ? Did they try to keep it cleared ? What did the 
white men do about the land ? 

§ 23. What did the Indians teach the white men ? What is said 
about the corn crop of the United States ? 

§ 24. Review. What people did Columbus name Indians ? WJiat 
was their color ? How did they live ? Did they have any animals ? 
Did they have any tools or weapons of iron or steel ? How did they 
get their living ? What did the men do ? What did the women do ? 
What is said of Indian trails and of canoes ? Why w-ere not the 
Indians very numerous ? What did the Indians and the whites some- 
times quarrel about ? Were the Indians ever friendly to the white 
settlers ? What did they show them how to do ? 

§ 25. Who held possession of the whole of America in i6oo ? Where 
had these people made settlements ? Where did the French make a 
settlement in i6o8? For what two reasons did the English determine 
to come back to America ? 

§ 26. What two companies were now formed in England to send 
emigrants to Virginia ? 

§ 27. What company sent over the first shipload of emigrants ? How 
many were there ? Were they workingmen ? What did they expect to 
find here ? Did they mean to stay here ? 

§ 28. When did they arrive in Virginia ? Where did they land ? 
What name did they give to the town they built ? Why did they so 
name it ? What happened to them that summer ? What is said about 
Captain John Smith ? 

§ 29. How was his life saved ? What did Pocahontas do for the 
colonists at Jamestown ? 

§ 30. What did Captain John Smith do after he was made governor ? 
vVhat great truth did the colonists learn from him ? 

§ 31. Why did he go back to England ? What did the new governor 
give the colonists ? What effect did his gift have ? What did John 
Rolfe plant ? What is said about tobacco ? 

§ 32. Why did many emigrants now come to Virginia? What is said 
about the coming of some English girls ? What is said about the 
tobacco trade ? 

§ 33. In what year did negro slavery begin in Virginia ? How did it 
begin ? How did people feel about buying negroes then ? Did slavery 
spread to the other colonies ? 

§ 34. Did the planters buy any white laborers ? Why ? Tell what 
you can about the three kinds of white laborers who came to America. 
Did they ever become free ? 

§ 35. What great privilege did the people of Virginia get in 1619 ? 
Who had made the laws in Virginia up to that time ? What did the 



iv ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



governor now ask the people to do ? Where did the representatives 
meet and what did they do ? Did they ever lose that privilege ? What 
is said about the people of the United States to-day? What should 
we remember ? 

§ 36. Review. Where did the first English colonists, who came here 
to stay, settle .'' In what year ? Who did more for the colony than any 
one else ? What was the first profitable crop which the colonists raised ? 
Where did they sell it ? What did the colonists buy ? In what year did 
slavery begin in America .'' Did the colonists buy any other laborers ? 
Did these last laborers ever get their freedom ? What great privilege 
did the people of Virginia gain ? In what year was that ? Can you give 
one reason why the United States is a free country? What is meant by 
a free country ? 

§ 37. Who was Henry Hudson ? What did a Dutch trading com- 
pany hire him to do ? What great river did he discover? What is that 
river called now ? 

§ 38. What country did the Dutch take possession of ? What name 
did they give to it ? What did that name mean ? W hat island did a 
Dutch trading company buy ? What did they give for it ? What did they 
name the settlement they made there ? What city stands on that island 
now ? What is the land worth on which the city stands ? How long 
would it take a boy to count that sum ? 

§ 39. What did the Dutch buy from the Indians in New Netherland ? 
What more did they want to do ? What did they offer to give ? What 
is the meaning of patroon ? How much land did the patroon Van 
Rensselaer have ? Describe his manner of living. 

§ 40. What did the king of England think about New Nether- 
land ? Why did he say the country belonged to England ? Who was 
the Dutch governor of New Netherland at that time ? Tell what hap- 
pened in the summer of 1664, What name was then given to New 
Netherland ? Why ? What name was given to New Amsterdam ? Why ? 

§ 41. What did the duke of York do with the southern part of New 
Netherland ? Why was this part of the country now called New Jersey ? 

§ 42. Who bought New Jersey ? How did the Quakers treat the 
Indians ? How did the Indians feel toward the Quakers ? What did 
they say ? 

§ 43. What did the Quakers do for the emigrants coming to New 
Jersey ? What is said about the colony ? What was at last done with 
New Jersey ? Who was the last royal governor of the colony ? 

§ 44. Review. What river did Captain Henry Hudson discover ? 
Who took possession of that part of the country ? What did they call 
it ? What island did they buy ? What did they build on it ? What did 
the English do ? What name did they give to New Netherland, and 
what to New Amsterdam? What name did that part of New Nether- 
land get which lay south of the Hudson River ? To whom was it sold ? 
What did the Quakers do for the people who came there ? 

§ 45. How did the king of England pay a debt which he owed to 
William Penn ? What did the king name the country ? What does 
that name mean ? Did the king know that there were coal and iron 
mines in Pennsylvania ? 



QUESTIONS 



§ 46. To what kind of people did William Penn belong ? Tell the 
four ways in which the Quakers differed from most of the English of 
that day. What did they say about every man's heart.? How did the 
greater part of the English feel toward the Quakers ? What did they 
do to them .'' Why was William Penn glad to get Pennsylvania ? 

§ 47. What did Penn do ? W^here did he land ? Who first settled 
in that country ? How did Penn come into possession of Delaware 
territory ? What did one of the Duke of York's officers do when Penn 
landed ? Why did he do these things ? 

§ 48. What city did William Penn begin to build ? What made him 
lay out the streets in straight lines } What is the meaning of the name 
Philadelphia .-' What did Penn hope and believe ? 

§ 49. What did Penn invite the colonists to do ? What two important 
laws did Penn and the colonists make ? What did Penn do about the 
land ? What treaty did Penn make with the Indians ? Why did the 
Indians give Penn a belt .-" Describe the belt. 

§ 50. What other emigrants came to Pennsylvania ? What did those 
do who had no- money to pay their passage to America .'' What is one 
of the best things about our country ? What was the one thing in which 
all these different people agreed ? Of what material does the United 
States build its great battle ships .'' Why ? What is said about different 
people building up a republic ? 

§ 51. Review. What did the king of England give to William Penn? 
Who was William Penn ? What did he buy ? What city did he build ? 
Why ? What people came to Pennsylvania later on ? 

§ 52. What people went from England to Holland ? Why did they 
go there? Why did they resolve to leave Holland and go to America? 
To what country did they go first after leaving Holland ? What town 
did they sail from in England ? In what year ? In what vessel ? How 
many Pilgrims were there ? What is said about the children ? 

§ 53. Where and when did the J/a^^ower first come to anchor ? What 
two things did the Pilgrims do there ? What did the Pilgrims do a 
month later ? What is said about that rock ? What did the men do on 
Christmas Day, 1620 ? What did they call the town they built? 

§ 54. What happened the first winter at Plymouth ? Did any of the 
Pilgrims go back in the iMayflower in the spring ? Why not ? What 
strange visitor did the Pilgrims have ? What did he say ? What Indian 
chief did he soon after bring to Plymouth ? What did Governor Carver 
and Massasoit do ? What is said about that treaty ? What did the 
Indians do to help the Pilgrims ? Tell about the first Thanksgiving. 
How many people keep Thanksgiving now ? 

§ 55. What did Massasoit tell the colonists ? Why were these Indians 
going to attack the Pilgrims ? Who went from Plymouth to inquire into 
the matter ? What happened ? How did the Pilgrims manage their public 
business ? What is said about town meetings ? 

§ 56. Where did another band of English people make a settlement 
on the coast of Massachusetts ? Why did these emigrants leave England ? 
Why were they called Puritans ? Who came over in 1 630 ? What town 
did these emigrants begin to build in that year ? Why did they name it 
Boston ? 



vi ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

§ 57. After a time what colony was joined to Massachusetts Colony?" 
What were the Puritans determined to do ? - What people did they drive 
out of Massachusetts ? 

§ 58. Who could vote in Massachusetts ? What is said about schools }' 
What about Harvard College .'' 

§ 59. What is said about the land between the Merrimac and Kennebec 
rivers ? What was the largest town built there .-' When thte territory 
was divided what was the eastern part called ? What was the western 
part called ? What was the largest settlement made in Maine .'' To 
what colony was Maine joined? When did Maine become an independ- 
ent state ? What was the country west of New Hampshire called ? 
Where was the first settlement made? When did Vermont become a 
separate state ? 

§ 60. What emigrants settled Londonderry, New Hampshire ? What 
did they do there ? 

§ 61. What was the country south of Massachusetts called? Who 
was one of the leaders of the emigrants who went from Massachusetts 
to Connecticut ? 

§ 62. Why did these people leave Cambridge ? Tell about their 
journey through the woods to the Connecticut River. What city did 
they begin to build on the Connecticut ? 

§ 63. What three other towns were built later in Connecticut ? What 
did the king do with New Haven Colony ? 

§ 64. What other famous man left Massachusetts and built up a new 
colony? Did Roger Williams leave Massachusetts of his own accord ? 
What people did Mr. Williams say owned the land in Massachusetts .'^ 
What did he say about the rulers of Massachusetts compelling people to 
go to church ? What did the rulers decide to do about Mr. Williams ? 

§ 65. What did Mr. Williams do then ? Tell about his journey through 
the woods. What did Massasoit do for him ? 

§ 66. What did Roger Williams do the next spring ? What did he call 
the place where he settled ? Why did he give it that name ? What is said 
about Providence ? What did Roger Williams tell the people that he invited 
to Rhode Island? Had any one else ever said that before in America? 

§ 67. Review. When did the Pilgrims land ? Where did they land ? 
Who came in 1630 ? What did they do ? Why did the Pilgrims and the 
Puritans emigrate to America ? What happened to the colony of Plym- 
outh ? Can you tell why Plymouth was called the " Old Colony " ? 
What is said about the colony of New Hampshire ? What about 
Portsmouth and Londonderry ? What is said about Mr. Hooker and 
others ? What did they build ? Where did English emigrants begin 
another colony ? What was done with the colonies of Hartford and 
New Haven ? Why did Rogei Williams leave Massachusetts ? Where 
did he go and what did he do ? What is said about Rhode Island ? 

§ 68. What three different classes of people had come to America to 
worship God in their own way ? What is said about the English Catho- 
lics ? What did the king give to Lord Baltimore ? What did the king 
call the country ? Why ? 

§ 69. Where did the first Catholic emigrants land ? What did they 
do ? What did the Indians do for them ? What is said about that 



QUESTIONS vii 

wigwam ? Did Lord Baltimore invite any people but Catholics to go to 
Maryland ? What did he do for all the settlers ? What did some people 
do who moved to Maryland from Virginia and Massachusetts ? 

§ 70. What was the largest and best crop raised in Maryland ? What 
happened after the city of Baltimore was begun ? What did the Germans 
raise ? What is said of Baltimore ? 

§ 71. What did King Charles the Second give to some of his friends ? 
Why did the owners of the land name it Carolina ? What city was begun 
therein 1680? Who were the Huguenots? Where did some of them 
settle ? Name two famous Americans who descended from the Huguenots. 
What was done with the great colony of Carolina ? What was the largest 
town in North Carolina.? What was the largest town in South Carolina? 

§ 72. What were the chief products of North Carolina? What did the 
planters in South Carolina raise ? What plants did they begin to raise 
later ? 

§ 73. Why did General Oglethorpe want to begin a new colony in 
America ? What did he persuade King George the Second to do ? 
What was the colony called? Why? What town did the first emigrants 
build on the Savannah River ? 

§ 74. What did the colonists of Georgia try to produce ? What was 
done with the silk they sent to London ? Did the colonists keep on pro- 
ducing silk ? What did they do ? Do we make any silk goods in 
America now? . • 

§ 75. What other emigrants came to Georgia ? What did the people 
do there after they got slaves ? What is said about the colony of Georgia ? 
What good work did it do ? Who had once owned the whole of North 
America ? Who now held the whole Atlantic coast from Maine to Georgia? 

§ 76. Review. Who settled Maryland? W^hy did they go there? 
W^hat did they open there ? What did they give to all settlers in Mary- 
land ? What two colonies were settled later ? What did the colonists 
of North Carolina make ? What did the planters of South Carolina 
raise ? What is said about the first emigrants who came to Georgia ? 
What did they try to produce ? What did they do later ? 

§ 77. General Review of the Thirteen Colonies. How many years 
had passed since the English settled Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607? 
What four New England colonies had been established ? What four 
middle colonies ? What five southern colonies ? How many colonies 
were there in all ? What is said about a boy planting thirteen acorns ? 
How long might such a grove of oak trees stand ? How were the 
thirteen American colonies like oak trees ? What do we believe about 
the colonies and the states which have been added to them ? 

§ 78. What was the first thing the colonists had to do when they 
landed in America ? How did they make their houses ? How did they 
make the walls, the floors, and the windows ? How did they build the 
chimney? What did they often do about furniture, dishes, and beds? 

§ 79. What did the settlers do after they had got their log houses 
built? How did they girdle trees ? What did they do with the dead trees ? 

§ 80. What did the settlers get to eat? What did they do with corn 
and beans ? What did they do with dry com ? How did they cook ? 
How did they kindle a fire ? What is said about matches ? What 



viii ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

animals did the colonists bring to America? What other creatures 
did they bring ? What did the Indians call the honeybee ? What 
clothes did the settlers have ? 

§ 81. Where did the settlers build their first homes ? Why ? How did 
they build their houses in New England ? How did they live at the South ? 

§ 82. How did the colonists travel through the woods ? How did 
they usually get from one colony to another ? Tell about their going by 
stagecoach ? What advantage had they over us ? 

§ 83. What did the colonists have to read.'' When and where was 
the first printing press set up in America ? When was the first American 
newspaper published ? What three good things did the people of those 
days find out ? What did they do with tramps, drunkards, thieves, and 
other rascals ? 

§ 84. In what condition were the emigrants who first came to America ? 
Did they stay poor ? Why not ? What is said about their farms, plan- 
tations, and towns ? 

§ 85. What class of men often grew rich ? What kind of houses did 
they build ? How did they furnish them ? What is said of their gardens ? 
What is said about their stables ? What is said about their slaves ? 
Where were these faithful house serv^ants sometimes buried.'' What is 
said about a grave in the old churchyard in Cambridge, Massachusetts ? 
Can you repeat the lines which are cut on that gravestone ? Who wrote 
them ? What w^as the one thing about which all the people of America, 
whether rich or poor, agreed ? How did they show this feeling ? 

§ 86. How did the white men generally treat the Indians ? Did they 
usually buy the land from the Indians ? What made trouble between 
the Indians and the w'hites ? 

§ 87. Where did the first Indian war break out ? Tell about the 
Pequot war in Connecticut. Who conquered in that war? 

§ 88. What was the most terrible of all the Indian wars ? What is 
said about "King Philip"? What did he do? How did the Indians 
fight ? Where and how did the war begin ? 

§ 89. What village did " King Philip's " warriors attack ? How many 
villages did they bum ? How long did the war last ? How many white 
men did they kill ? Did they carry off any prisoners ? What did Captain 
Church do ? What became of Philip's wife and little boy ? What hap- 
pened to " King Philip " ? What is said about the cost of the war to 
Plymouth Colony ? 

§ 90. Who was Pontiac ? How did he feel toward the French ? What 
was his feeling toward the English ? What did Pontiac say to the western 
Indians ? What did the Indians do ? How did Pontiac's war end ? 

§ 91. When peace was made, what did the western Indians do about 
the children they had stolen ? Did all of the children want to leave the 
Indians ? Tell the story of the mother and her daughter. 

§ 92. Review. What was the first war the colonists had with the 
Indians ? Where was the second war, and with what Indians ? What 
terrible Indian war broke out later in Massachusetts ? What is said 
about Pontiac ? How did all these Indian wars end ? 

§ 93. When did the French begin to build Quebec in Canada ? Two 
kinds of Frenchmen went to Canada ; who were they, and why did they 



QUESTIONS ix 

go there ? To what part of western Canada did seme of the priests go ? 
What did they do there ? What did the Indians call them ? Tell about 
the visits of the Indians to the priests' cabin. What Indians came and 
broke up the little settlement ? Did those Indians drive the French out 
of Canada ? 

§ 94. How much farther west did the French go ? What did they 
hear of there ? What did the Indians call that river ? What two French- 
men set out to find that river? What did they think about the river.? 
How did they get from Mackinaw to Green Bay ? What did they do 
then ? How did they get to the Wisconsin River ? What did they do 
then? 

§ 95. Tell what they saw as they drifted down the Mississippi. What 
place did they come to in about three weeks ? Why did they stop at the 
mouth of the Arkansas River? What did the two Frenchmen think 
about the Mississippi ? What did they decide to do ? What is said about 
their arrival in Canada ? 

§ 96. What Frenchman determined to complete the work begun by 
Joliet and Father Marquette? Where did he build a small vessel? 
What is said of that vessel ? To what place did he sail ? What did he 
do then ? After La Salle and his men had got to the southern end of 
Lake Michigan how did they get to a branch of the Illinois River ? What 
did they do then ? W^hat time of the year was it when they entered the 
Mississippi? W^hat happened on a day in April, 1682? What did La 
Salle and his men do then ? In whose name did La Salle take possession 
of the Mississippi Valley ? Why did La Salle name the country Louisi- 
ana ? What two southern cities did the French begin to build later ? 
How large was the territoiy of Louisiana ? What is said about that great 
V-shaped wilderness ? What is said about that territory to-day ? 

§ 97. Review. What did the French do in Canada? What river did 
they discover ? Who went down that river to its mouth ? What name 
did he give to the whole Mississippi Valley ? Why ? For what king did 
he take possession of it ? 

§ 98. What happened when the English colonists heard that La Salle 
had taken possession of Louisiana for the king of France ? What Indians 
burned Schenectady ? What settlements did the French Canadians and 
Indians destroy ? 

§ 99. What town did the Canadian Indians attack in Massachusetts ? 
Tell the story of Mrs. Dustin. 

§ 100. In the next French and Indian war what town in Massachusetts 
was burned ? What did the New England colonists do ? What is the 
name of that country now ? In the third war with the French, what did 
Colonel Pepperrell do? What did the king of England give Colonel 
Pepperrell ? Had any New England man received such an honor before ? 

§ lOL Did the French give up the fight? What did they mean to 
do ? Where did they build forts in the west ? Where did they begin to 
build several more forts ? 

§ 102. On what land did these new French forts stand? What did 
the' governor of Virginia do in 1753? Did Washington want to go? 
Washington was born in 1732; how old was he now? What did the 
French commander say to him ? What happened the next year (i754)? 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



- § 103. Who led a British army against Fort Duquesne ? Where 
had the French built that fort ? What did Washington tell General 
Braddock ? What happened to Braddock's army when it had nearly 
reached Fort Duquesne ? What happened to General Braddock ? What 
is said about Washington ? 

§ 104. What did the French say then ? What is said about William 
Pitt.? What did Pitt do ? Did the English get the French fort ? What 
did they name the new fort they built ? Is any of it still standing ? 
What great manufacturing city has grown up around that fort > 

§ 105. What did William Pitt do next ? Where is Quebec built ? 
What is said about General Montcalm.? How did General Wolfe 
manage to get at Quebec ? What did General Montcalm see when the 
sun rose ? 

§ 106. In what year was the battle of Quebec fought ? After the 
battle began what happened to General Wolfe? What did he say? 
What happened to General Montcalm ? What did he say ? Did the 
English get Quebec ? Who own the city to-day? 

§ 107, What did the fall of Quebec mark ? How long had the great 
war between the English and the French been going on ? What is said 
about the English children in America who heard the first gun fired in 
that war ? In what year was peace made ? What was France forced 
to do ? Why did not the king of France give up Louisiana west of the 
Mississippi to England ? What had Spain done with Florida ? How 
much of North America did England now own ? How much did Spain 
own ? Did France still own any land on the North American continent ? 

§ 108. Review. What was the object of the war in America between 
the English and the French ? What did the Canadian Indians do ? 
What country did the American colonists get possession of ? What 
famous French fort did they take ? What is said about General Brad- 
dock ? Did the English ever take Fort Duquesne ? What fort did the 
English build ? What city has grown up around that fort ? In what 
year was Quebec captured ? Who captured it ? What was done in 
1763? After that treaty was made, how much of North America did 
France have left ? How much did England then own ? How much did 
Spain have ? 

§ 109. How did the king always give land to the colonists? What 
was that writing called ? What two things did the charters tell the 
colonists ? What did every charter promise to the English who came 
to America ? Did the colonists forget that promise ? What did the 
colonists say about their right to help make the laws in America ? Why 
did they say that ? In what colony did the people first take part in 
making the laws ? Did they do the same thing in all the other thirteen 
colonies ? Did they ever give up that right ? 

§ 110. What did the king do about most of the charters? What did 
he tell Sir Edmund Andros to do ? Did Sir Edmund get the Connecti- 
cut charter ? What happened when he tried to get it ? 

§ 111. What happened to Governor Andros in Boston? 

§ 112. Did the American colonists have much liberty? Could they 
do as they pleased about sending things abroad to sell or about using 
them at home ? Could the southern planters sell their tobaeco in 



QUESTIONS xi 

Europe ? What did the king's laws say about it ? Could the people of 
Pennsylvania make their iron into what they pleased ? Where did they 
have to get their axes, their nails, and their iron pots ? Were the 
Americans permitted to make any fine woolen cloth ? When people 
wanted such cloth what did they have to do ? Did this picture have 
another side ? Where did the king's laws order the people of England 
to buy all their tobacco ? Could they buy it anywhere else ? Do you 
think the southern planters liked this law? What is said about the 
price which the English makers charged the colonists for axes, iron- 
ware, and fine woolen cloth ? Could the colonists then have made these 
things cheaper ? What did the king of England buy over here ? Did 
he pay a good price for these things ? Did he pay more than the price ? 
Why ? Do you think the American colonists were very badly treated ? 
What did Benjamin Franklin say about it ? If you could lead a young, 
high-spirited horse by a thread what should you think about the horse ? 

§ 113. Review. What did the king's charters give the American 
colonists ? Did all the colonists take part in making the laws here ? 
What did the king do about most of the charters ? Did the colonists 
still have the right to help make the American laws ? Where did the 
colonists have to sell all the tobacco they sent abroad? Where did they 
have to buy their ironware and their fine woolen cloth ? On the other 
hand, w^here did the English people have to buy all their tobacco ? Did 
the English manufacturers charge the colonists a very high price for the 
goods they sold them? Could the colonists then have done better? 
Did the king of England buy anything in America ? What kind of a 
price did he pay ? What did Benjamin Franklin say ? 

§ 114, What happened after George the Third became king of 
England (1760) ? What did Benjamin Franklin say then? What made 
this great change of feeling? What had George the Third resolved to 
do ? How was he going to get money to pay these soldiers ? Could 
the king take money from the people in England without their consent ? 
What did the Americans say about the charters ? What did they say 
about paying taxes ? Did George the Third mean to treat the American 
colonists badly ? What faults did he have ? What reply did he make 
to the American colonists ? Did that reply satisfy the colonists, or did 
it stir up a quarrel ? 

§ 115. What did George the Third then get the English Parliament in 
London to do ? What did the Stamp Act command the Americans to 
do ? What were the stamps like ? If a man wanted to buy a piece of 
land was it necessary for him to buy a stamp ? How was it if he bought 
a newspaper or an almanac ? How much did the stamps cost ? Did the 
Americans buy any of these stamps which were sent over from England ? 
What did they do ? What did they say about paying taxes ? What was 
done about the Stamp Act ? 

§ 116. What did George the Third then decide to do ? Where did the 
American colonists buy their window glass, paint, wall paper, and tea? 
What law did Parliament make about these things ? Did the king sign 
the law ? What did the Americans say about it ? What did Samuel 
Adams of Boston say ? What did thousands of people throughout the 
country do ? 



xii ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

§ 117. What did George the Third finally think ? Did he take off the 
tax on tea ? How much of a tax was it ? Were the Americans willing to 
drink the taxed tea ? What happened when three ships loaded with taxed 
tea came to Boston (1773)? What happened to the taxed tea which 
was sent to New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and South Carolina? 

§ 118. When George the Third heard of the destruction of the tea in 
Boston what did he do ? Did any of the people of Boston suffer ? Did 
the Americans beg the king's pardon ? Did they offer to pay for the tea.!* 
What did the people of the other colonies do for Boston ? What did 
this show? 

§ 119. What did the people of the colonies now do ? What was that 
meeting called? What did that Congress try to do? What did Patrick 
Henry say in the Virginia legislature? What did the farmers in Massa- 
chusetts and in the other colonies do ? What kind of companies did they 
form? Why were they called minutemen ? What did General Gage 
do in the spring of 1775? When did the British soldiers go? What 
did Paul Revere do? What happened at Lexington on April 19, 1775? 
What happened at Concord later in the same day ? What happened 
when the British soldiers set out to go back to Boston ? W' hat was 
this the beginning of ? How long did the war last ? How did it end ? 

§ 120. What happened after the British had returned to Boston ? 
"What was that army around Boston called? How large was that army? 
What did General Gage find ? What surprising sight did General Gage 
see on the morning of the 17th of June, 1775 ? What does Bunker Hill 
overlook? What is said about Colonel William Prescott ? What did 
General Gage order part of his army to do ? What did the Americans 
on Bunker Hill do ? What word was passed along among them ? What 
happened then ? What happened the second time the British went up 
the hill ? What happened the third time the British went up the hill ? 
Why did the Americans have to give up the fort ? Did General Gage 
feel like fighting another such battle ? How many men had he lost ? 

§ 121. Meanwhile what had Congress done ? What did Washington 
ask about Bunker Hill? What was the answer? What did Washing- 
ton do at Cambridge ? 

§ 122. Why could Washington do nothing for a long time ? What is 
said of Ethan Allen ? What did Washington do when snow fell ? Why 
did the Americans send two armies to Canada ? Tell about Benedict 
Arnold going through the w^oods of Maine. Did the Americans take 
Quebec ? What did Washington do at Dorchester Heights ? What did 
General Howe do ? 

§ 123. What did Congress do on July 4, 1776 ? When the war began 
did the Americans mean to separate from England ? What were they 
fighting for then ? W^hat would they fight for in future ? What had 
they at last done ? 

§ 124. Did all -the Americans agree about the Revolution? What 
did the greater part of the colonists say to the king? What were these 
people called ? Who was their leader ? Tell the story of Captain Nathan 
Hale of Connecticut. What did he say on the scaffold ? What did these 
words show ? What did some other Americans think about fighting the 
king? What is said about them? Name one of them. What did they 



. QUESTIONS xiii 

call themselves ? Why ? What did people generally call them ? What 
did the Loyalists, or Tories, beUeve ? What did they think they would 
get ? What is said about part of the Tories ? What did all of the Toiies 
do before the war was over ? Why did they go ? Did any of them give 
up anything ? What did General Howe do when he sailed from Boston ? 
Did any more go afterward ? 

§ 125. Where did General Howe go from Halifax ? What did Gen- 
eral Washington do ? What happened on Long Island in 1776? What 
was Washington forced to do ? What is said of Lord Comwallis ? What 
river did Washington cross ? Why did not Comwallis follow him ? 
What did Washington do on Christmas night, 1776? What is said 
about the soldiers' need of money ? Was there much silver money then 
in the country ? How about paper money ? What did Washington say 
about that paper money ? 

§ 126. Who was Robert Morris > What did he do ? What did Wash- 
ington do two days later ? What young French nobleman came to Amer- 
ica in 1777? What did he do? What is said about some German 
military officers ? 

§ 127. What city did General Howe take ? What was that city then ? 
What did Washington do then ? What happened in eastern New York? 
What had General Burgoyne started to do ? What is said of General 
Herkimer ? What of Colonel Stark ? What happened at Saratoga, Octo- 
ber 7, 1777 ? 

§ 128. What did our drummers and fifers do ? What did our color 
bearers carry? What was the new American flag? Read note 2. 
What flag did Washington raise at Cambridge on New Year's Day, 1776 ? 
How w^arf that flag made ? After we had declared ourselves independent 
what did Congress do in June, 1777? Describe that flag. Who may 
have designed it ? Where was it made ? Where was this new flag first 
raised ? In what year ? What was it made of ? In what great and 
decisive battle was the new flag first carried ? In what year ? Who first 
raised it in the northwestern part of the United States ? In what year ? 
Who first displayed our new flag on an American war ship ? In what 
year ? Who first carried the new flag around the globe ? In what year ? 
How many stripes does the flag now have ? Why ? What is said about 
the stars? Do you know how many stars the flag has now? Why? 
What did the Americans do for Burgoyne's men ? Why did the king of 
France hate the English ? What did he say now ? What did the king 
of England now offer to do ? What was the one thing we were deter- 
mined to have ? Did the war go on ? 

§ 129. What is said about Washington's men at Valley Forge ? What 
did the British at Philadelphia now do ? Why ? What battle did Wash- 
ington now fight ? What is said about that battle ? What city did the 
British still hold ? What wilderness did they hold ? What great work 
did Captain George Rogers Clark do in 1778? What did Captain Paul 
Jones do on the ocean in 1778 ? What did Paul Jones show King George 
the Third ? 

§ 130. Review. How nearly are we through the Revolutionary War? 
When George the Third became king what did he resolve to do ? What 
did he do about stamps ? What did he do about taxed tea ? What did 
the American colonists do ? How did the king punish the Americans ? 



xiv ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

What happened at Lexington and Concord ? After the battle of Bunker 
Hill what did Congress do? What happened on July 4, 1776? What 
did Washington do after the battle of Long Island ? What city did the 
British take ? What great victory did the Americans win at Saratoga, 
New York, in October, 1777? What flag did the Americans carry in 
that battle? What did the king of France now do? Did the British 
continue to stay in Philadelphia ? What is said of George Rogers Clark? 
What about Captain Paul Jones ? After the surrender of Burgoyne what 
did England offer the people of the United States ? What did we reply ? 

§ 131. What did the British now think ? What did they do ? What 
towns in South Carolina did they capture ? What did Lord Cornwallis 
then set out to do ? What happened at Camden ? What happened at 
Kings Mountain? What is said about Marion and Sumter? What 
would Marion do ? 

§ 132. What terrible thing now happened in New York state ? W^hat 
is said of Arnold at Quebec and at Saratoga? What had Washington 
done to reward him ? What did Arnold do ? What happened to Andre ? 
Did Arnold escape ? Was he ever caught ? What did the British do 
for him ? What did Arnold do there ? What did Arnold ask an Amer- 
ican patriot that he had captured ? What reply did the American make ? 
Where did Arnold go after the war was over ? What is said of him there ? 

§ 133. What is said about General Greene ? Did Cornwallis catch 
Greene? What game did General Greene play? What did Cornwallis 
make up his mind to do ? Did Greene want him to go there ? W^hat did 
Greene do after Cornwallis had gone ? 

§ 134. What did Cornwallis do after going to Virginia ? Where did 
Cornwallis finally decide to go ? What was he going to do there ? Where 
was Washington at that time ? What did he do ? Did Washington 
have any help ? What soldiers and what fleet gave him help ? What 
now happened to Cornwallis ? What did he see on one side of York- 
town ? What did he see on the other side? What then happened? 
What did Cornwallis do at the end of a week ? What did that mean ? 
How long was it since Burgoyne had surrendered? In w^hat year did the 
British march out of Yorktown ? What happened then? What did 
King George the Third say then ? What was done in 1783 ? 

§ 135. Review. What had King George the Third done ? What 
did the American colonists do ? What did they do the year after the 
war began ? What was the first great victory won by the Americans ? 
In what year did they win it ? What did the king of France then do ? 
What did Washington do four years later? What did the surrender of 
Cornwallis compel King George the Third to do ? What had the Amer- 
icans now gained ? 

§ 136. What is said about the people of the United States after the 
war was over ? Could people send things to sell in all parts of the coun- 
try without paying taxes on them ? Was there freedom of trade between 
*New England and the Middle States or between the Middle States and 
the South ? What did the government need ? Would the people give 
it ? Did the country have a Congress then ? Did it have a President ? 
How long did the people go on in this way ? What was the country 
like ? What did Washington and other noted men finally say ? 



QUESTIONS XV 

§ 137. How many men did the people send to the convention at 
Philadelphia ? Name two of those men ? What did the convention at 
last agree* to do ? What did they call the new agreement which they 
signed ? Did the Constitution make many changes in the government ? 
What did it say about a President ? What would it be his duty to do ? 
What power did the Constitution give Congress about money ? Are any 
things mentioned here for which the government of the United States 
might need money ? How could the government now get this money ? 
What did the Constitution say that the people of a state must do if they 
got into a dispute about what Congress or the President had the right 
to do ? What was done with the Constitution after the convention at 
Philadelphia had accepted it ? What did the people do ? What year 
was that ? Are we still living under that Constitution ? Have we made 
any additions to it ? What are they called ? Have any other countries 
copied parts of our Constitution ? Name such a countiy. 

§ 138. Review. After the War of the Revolution was over how did 
the people feel about the government they then had ? What did they 
do? What did the new Constitution give us? Did we have a Presi- 
dent before ? Did we have a Congress ? Can you tell what Congress 
does ? Can you tell why it is a good thing to have a President as well as 
a Congress ? (See § 136.) 

§ 139. Who was chosen to be the first President of the United States ? 
When and where was he made President ? What was New York City 
then ? When the work was finished what was done ? Of what did the 
people feel certain ? What four men did Washington select to help him 
carry on his work ? Can you tell what any of these men did? (See note 2.) 
To what office did Washington appoint John Jay ? 

§ 140. What was the first thing which the United States had to do? 
Name some of the expenses of the United States (see § 137). What 
law did Congress pass ? What did the tariff do ? Explain how the 
United States could get money when a merchant imported tea into this 
country ? Did we get much money by the tariff ? Who took care of all 
this money? What did he advise Congress to do? What three great 
debts did w^e ow^e ? What did Congress finally vote to do ? Has the 
United States ever failed to pay back any money it has borrowed ? What 
are we proud to say ? 

§ 141. Had the United States ever coined any gold or silver pieces up 
to this time ? What sort of gold and silver money did we then have in 
the country ? What did Thomas Jefferson say to Congress ? What did 
Congress do? What did the mint at Philadelphia send out? What 
coins did the people begin to have from that time ? Are our gold and 
silver coins good to-day ? Are they good outside of the United States ? 
What interesting question now came up ? When was the first census 
taken ? How many people did it show we had ? When was the last 
census taken ? How many people had we then ? Has England, or 
France, or Germany, as many people as we have now ? 

§ 142. While Washington was President what happened in France ? 
What war broke out then? What did the French do? What did 
Washington do ? Why ? How did the French people then feel toward 
us ? What were a good many Americans now beginning to do ? Where 



xvi ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

did they make settlements ? Where had Daniel Boone gone and what 
had he done ? Where did companies of New England emigrants go ? 
What settlement did they make ? What settlement was made farther 
down the Ohio ? What did the Indians in that part of the country try 
to do ? What did President Washington do ? What did the Indians 
say about General Wayne ? Did General Wayne have a fight with the 
Indians ? What did he make them do ? 

§ 143. What did the Southern planters want to raise ? What diffi- 
culty was in the way ? How long did it take a negro to pick off the seeds 
from a pound of cotton ? Did that have any effect on the price of cotton ? 
Who was Eli Whitney ? What machine did he make ? What would 
that machine do ? What did the planters say then ? What did they do ? 
What were now built in New England? What did the South now send 
to England ? Eli Whitney's invention did another thing ; what was it ? 
What did it do at the North? Why? What had Washington, Jeffer- 
son, and Franklin hoped about slavery ? Did it now seem likely that the 
slaves would get their freedom ? Can you tell why ? . 

§ 144. Did we still have some disputes with England ? What about ? 
When we asked the king to give up the forts what did he say ? What is 
said about our sending wheat to sell in France ? What is said about our 
sending things to sell in the British West India Islands? What did 
Washington do ? What did John Jay do ? Did we get anything by that 
treaty? How did many of our people feel? What did most of the 
people believe ? 

§ 145. What great loss happened to the United States in 1799? 
What three states were admitted to the Union while Washington was 
President ? How many states did that make in all ? 

§ 146. Review. While Washington was President what did we pay ? 
What did we establish at Philadelphia ? What else did we do ? What 
did many people from the eastern states now do ? What is said of 
General Wayne ? What did EU Whitney invent ? What effect did his 
machine have on cotton raising and on slavery ? What three states were 
added to the Union ? How many states did that make in all ? 

§ 147. Who was our second President ? What is said about the 
French? What did they threaten to do? What did Congress order? 
What was the name of the first one of these ships ? Can you think of 
any reason why that ship got that name ? What victories did we win at 
sea? What did the French do then ? 

§ 148. Why did Congress pass two new laws ? What did those laws 
punish ? What did Kentucky and Virginia say about those laws ? Did 
the other states agree with them ? 

§ 149. Review. While John Adams was President what did the 
French do ? What did we do ? What two laws did Congress pass ? 
What did Kentucky and Virginia say about them ? What is said of the 
other states ? 

§ 150. Who was our third President ? What had he written ? What 
is said of the capitol building at Washington ? What is said of the 
country around it ? What is said about the city of Washington to-day ? 
What people did we have to fight ? What did those pirates do ? What 
did they refuse to do ? What did Jefferson do ? 



QUESTIONS xvii 

§ 151. What new state was admitted? How many states did that 
make? What did President Jefferson buy in 1803? Who sold that 
country to us ? For how much ? How large was that country ? How 
much did it cost an acre ? How much larger did it make the American 
republic ? Did the United States extend beyond the Mississippi River 
when W^ashington was President ? How far west did it extend after Jef- 
ferson bought the Louisiana Country ? 

§ 152. What two young men did Jefferson now send West ? Why did 
he send them ? Where did they start from ? Up what river did they 
go ? How far did they go ? Did they meet with any white men ? What 
did they see ? What did Jefferson think about that wild country ? Was 
he right ? What did Lewis and Clark do after they had crossed the 
Rocky Mountains ? What American had entered the Columbia River 
before them ? What did he do there ? 

§ 153. What did Aaron Burr set out to do ? What kind of man was 
Burr? What great man had he killed in a duel? What is it supposed 
Burr meant to do at the South ? Did he succeed ? What happened to 
him ? How did people look upon him after that ? 

§ 154. What is said about England and France ? What did each of 
these nations order the United States to do ? What would happen if an 
American vessel started to carry wheat to France ? What would happen 
if it started with a cargo of cotton to England ? What was England in 
great need of at that time ? What had many of her sailors done ? What 
orders did the king of England give to the captains of his war ships ? 
What did they do ? What other sailors would they often carry off ? What 
did they make these sailors do ? Did this go on long ? What did the 
English captains do at last ? What did they take from the Chesapeake ? 
Why did not Congress go to war about it ? What order was now sent 
out ? What was that order called ? What effect did that order have in 
New England ? What happened at last ? 

§ 155. How did people at that time go up the Hudson from New 
York City to Albany ? How long did it take them? What did Robert 
Fulton do ? When did he start for Albany ? Did he get there ? How 
long did it take him ? Did Fulton's boat continue to go up and down 
the Hudson ? What is said about the Ohio River, the Mississippi, and 
the Great Lakes ? What did the Indians think about the steamboat ? 
What did they call it? What happened in 181 9? What is said about 
the first bicycle ? 

§ 156. Review. What pirates did Jefferson punish? Why? What 
country did he buy from France ? In what year ? How much larger 
did it make the United States ? What two men made their way across 
that country to the Pacific ? What is said of Captain Robert Gray ? 
What was Aaron Burr arrested and tried for ? What was done with 
him ? Why ? With what two countries did we get into trouble ? Why ? 
What did the captains of English ships do ? What did they finally do ? 
What did Congress order? What did that do? What did Robert 
Fulton do in 1807 ? 

§ 157. Who was our fourth President? What did he try to do? 
Did he succeed? What happened in the territory west of Ohio ? Who 
was Tecumseh ? What is said about him ? What did President Madison 



xviii ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



do ? Tell what happened while General Harrison's men were on the 
banks of Tippecanoe River? What did our soldiers do ? What was that 
battle called? 

§ 158. What were the captains of English war ships still doing? 
How many Americans had the king of England got in this way? What 
did he make them do? What did the United States do at last? What 
did Congress do in the summer of 1812 ? 

§ 159. How did we begin the war of 181 2 ? What did General Hull do 
at Detroit ? Why did he give up the fort ? What people took possession 
of that fort? What was done with General Hull? Did we gain any 
battles in Canada later? Where were our great victories gained? 

§ 160. What American city did the English capture ? What did they 
do there ? What did they try to do next ? What fort defended that city ? 
Did they take that fort? What song was written about our flag ? 

§ 161. What was the name of the first war ship which Congress built 
for our new navy? What did the London papers call her? What was 
she really built of ? Where was she built ? (See § 147.) What did some 
people think about our ships going out to fight ? What did others say ? 
Who commanded the Constitution ? What is said about him? What 
happened when the Constitution met the British war ship Guerriere ? 
W^as the Constitution much hurt in the fight ? What did the people of 
Boston call her? Where is the Constitution to-day? Out of fifteen 
battles with the British, on the ocean, how many did we gain ? 

§ 162. What did Commodore Perry start to do on Lake Erie ? 
Where did he get his vessels ? Tell what he did on Lake Erie ? What 
did Commodore Perry write to General Harrison ? Where did Commo- 
dore Macdonough have an American fleet ? What did he do in Platts- 
burg Bay ? 

§ 163. What did General Jackson now undertake to do ? Had Gen- 
eral Jackson ever whipped the Indians ? What had he to do now ? Who 
set out to take New Orleans ? How many men did Jackson have ? 
What kind of men were a good part of them ? What did Jackson do? 
Then what happened? Who won the battle of New Orleans? Were 
there any more battles after that ? What is this war always called ? Why ? 

§ 164. What good did the War of 181 2 do us ? Did the British ever 
meddle with our ships or carry off any more of our sailors after that ? 
How do England and America feel toward each other to-day? What 
two new states did we add while Madison was President ? How many 
did that make in all ? 

§ 165. Review. What did General Harrison do ? What did the 
United States do shortly after the battle of Tippecanoe ? Why did we 
fight the War of 181 2? What is said of the beginning of that war? 
What did our war ships do ? Who fought the last great battle of the 
war ? Where ? Who won the victory ? What is said about the English 
after peace was made ? What have we done on the ocean ? 

§ 166. Who was our fifth President ? What is said about him ? What 
did men say then about good times ? 

§ 167. What did General Jackson do in Florida? What did the 
king of Spain think he had better do ? Why ? What did we pay for 
the territory of Florida ? When did we add that territory to the United 



QUESTIONS xix 

States ? What great piece of land did we buy in 1803 ? In what direc- 
tion did that give us room to grow ? In what new direction could we 
grow after we had bought Florida ? 

§ 168. What three states had entered the Union while Monroe was 
President ? How many did this make in all ? What is said of eleven 
of these states at the North? What is said of the eleven southern 
states ? Does this show that slavery and freedom were equally divided 
at that time ? What is said about all of these twenty-two states except 
Louisiana ? Had anything then been said about making an entirely new 
state west of the Mississippi River ? What did a part of Missouri terri- 
tory, which lay wholly west of the Mississippi, now ask ? What did it wish 
to do ? What happened when Congress took up this question ? What 
great change had taken place at the North ? How did the people there 
feel about having a slave state made west of the Mississippi River? 
How did the people of the South feel about it ? While this great dis- 
pute was going on what did Maine ask of Congress ? What did the 
people of the South say to that ? 

§ 169. What is said about Henry Clay? What did he say about a 
plan of settlement which had been offered ? According to that plan 
what would Maine do ? What would Missouri do ? Then what was to 
be done with all the rest of the territory west of the Mississippi River 
which lay north and west of the state of Missouri ? What did Congress 
do about this plan ? What two states were now admitted ? How many 
states did this make in all ? How many of these were free states ? How 
many were slave states ? What was this plan called ? Why ? 

§ 170. What other question, besides the spread of slavery, was talked 
about in those days ? Why did many people want a road built from the 
East to Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois ? What did emigrants to the West 
think Congress ought to do ? What did the farmers who had gone 
there and settled think ? What did the merchants of the East think ? 
How did President Monroe feel about it ? Did any members of Con- 
gress agree with him ? What did Henry Clay believe ? What did he 
do ? What did Congress finally decide to do ? Did the road get as far 
as the Mississippi ? How far did it get ? Did it do any good ? What 
did the people beyond the Alleghany Mountains do to show their grati- 
tude to Henry Clay ? Where is that monument ? What does it call 
the great Kentuckian ? 

§ 171. How did the people on the western rivers use those rivers? 
With what were the Ohio and the Mississippi crowded ? What did 
Abraham Lincoln and another boy do ? What did they try to do when 
they got to New Orleans ? What else went down the Ohio and the Mis- 
sissippi rivers besides steamboats and flatboats ? What kind of people 
were on these rivers ? What did they do ? 

§ 172. In what two ways had the people of the United States now 
made themselves independent of Great Britain ? What did President 
Monroe now claim for America ? What did he say about the kings of 
Europe ? What did England say about that ? Was England on our side 
then ? What is said about the people of Mexico setting up a republic ? 
What did President Monroe declare ? Do you know what this is called ? 
(See note i.) Does any one dispute this to-day? 



XX ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



§ 173. What European was sure of getting a hearty welcome if he 
came to America? What is said about him? Did he come? What 
year was that ? How many states did we have at the close of the Revo- 
lution? How many did we have when this brave and generous French- 
man came to see us ? How many of these states did he visit ? What 
happened wherever he went ? What had he done for us in our dark 
days ? Did he come to us now rich or poor? What did we do for him ? 

§ 174. Review. What great piece of land did we buy while Monroe 
was President ? How many new states did we add to the Union ? How 
many did that make in all ? What is said about letting in Missouri as a 
slave state ? What did we undertake to build through the West ? What 
did we say to Europe ? Whom did we welcome as an old friend ? What 
did we do for him ? 

§ 175. Who was our sixth President? What did the state of New 
York resolve to do ? Would this be better than a road ? Why ? Tell all 
you can about the Erie Canal ? What could people now do ? What did 
thousands of emigrants do ? What cities did they build up ? What did 
the canal bring from the West ? What did this do for New York state ? 

§ 176. What had been invented in England? What did the people 
here say about it ? What did a company now begin to build ? Who 
made the first engine for that road ? In what year did it first run ? 
What is said about that railway ? How far would the railways of the 
United States reach now, if they were straightened out ? Are they still 
growing longer ? 

§ 177. What did President John Quincy Adams want to see? What 
was one of the evils of that time ? Tell all you can about it. What did 
some good men of that day do ? Did they succeed in doing anything ? 

§ 178. Review. When John Quincy Adams was President what did 
the state of New York do ? What four things did that canal do ? 
What was opened in 1830? What is said about American railways 
now ? In what reform did the President feel a great interest ? 

§ 179. Who was the seventh President of the United States? From 
what states had the six preceding Presidents come ? From what part 
of the country did Andrew Jackson come ? What did they call him out 
West ? How did the people there feel tow^ard him ? How had a good 
many of them helped him ? Where had others been with him ? 

§ 180. Who published a new kind of paper in Boston in 1831 ? 
What is said about him? What did he name his paper? Why ? What 
did he say in the first number of his paper? What did most people in 
the South think about him ? What did many in the North think ? What 
did a few men there say ? What did people who read The Liberator 
begin to do ? Did they mean to go South and set the negroes free ? 
What did they mean to do ? What would crowds sometimes do about 
these meetings ? 

§ 181. What did societies in the North demand? What did people 
say who belonged to them ? What did Mr. Garrison say must be done ? 
What did nearly all the people in the North say to that ? Did they 
believe in breaking up the Union ? What did they think about it ? 

§ 182. What did the planters in South Carolina want to do about 
buying woolen and cotton cloth ? Why ? What law had Congress 



QUESTIONS xxi 

passed ? What was that tax called ? Why did it get that name ? What 
did John C. Calhoun of South Carolina say? What did the people of 
his state resolve to do ? What did they say they would do if President 
Jackson tried to make them pay the tax ? What were a few men in the 
North ready to do ? Why ? What did some slaveholders in South Caro- 
lina declare they would do? What did President Jackson say to the 
people of Soulh Carolina ? What did Henry Clay now persuade Con- 
gress to do ? Did that do any good ? 

§ 183.- What two new states were added to the Union while Jackson 
was President ? How many did this make in all ? How many did the 
republic have not quite fifty years before ? What helped to fill the West 
wdth people ? What is said about the Indians of IlHnois, Wisconsin, and 
Iowa ? What did they have to do ? What is said of the Indians of 
Florida and Georgia ? What did the United States ask an acre for land ? 
What did that cheap land do for the West ? Did farmers have to pay for 
it at once ? What is said about mowing machines and reaping machines ? 

§ 184. What villages were growing at the West? What is said of 
Milwaukee ? What is said of a small settlement at the southern end 
of Lake Michigan ? 

§ 185. Review. What is said about General Jackson ? What is said 
about Garrison ? This led to talk about what ? What did some slave- 
holders in South Carolina threaten to do? What did Henry Clay do? 
What is said about the West? What two new states were added to the 
Union while Jackson was President ? How many states did this make 
in all? 

§ 186. Who was our eighth President ? What happened soon after 
he became President ? What made this distress ? What is said about 
the farmers at this time ? What happened in New York City ? Did the 
hard times do any good ? 

§ 187. What is said about immigrants coming to America? Did you 
ever see a magnet draw a bunch of tacks to itself ? How did many of 
these people live while in Europe ? What is said about ocean steamers ? 
How many immigrants sometimes come in a single steamer ? How many 
come in a year ? From what countries do the greater part of these immi- 
grants now come ? What sort of work do many of them get? What 
laws has Congress passed about immigrants landing here ? 

§ 188. Review. What happened shortly after Van Buren became 
President ? Did the hard times do any good ? What is said about immi- 
grants coming here ? What does the United States do about immigrants ? 

§ 189. Who was our ninth President ? Who was chosen Vice Presi- 
dent ? What had General Harrison done? Was General Harrison 
President long ? Who became our tenth President after he died ? 

§ 190. What is said about Professor Morse ? Tell how he invented 
the telegraph. What did the dots and dashes stand for ? 

§ 191. When did Professor Morse build the first line of telegraph ? 
Between what two cities did he build it ? What was the first message 
he sent over it ? What is said about the telegraph to-day ? Are there 
any telegraph fines across* the ocean ? To what countries do these lines 
extend ? Who invented the telephone ? In what year ? What is said 
about the telephone ? 



xxii ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

§ 192. What new southern state was admitted to the Union ? How 
many did this make in all ? What new piece of land was added to the 
United States ? Did anybody object to the admission of Florida ? How 
about the annexation of Texas ? What did the people of Texas call 
themselves ? Did Texas wish to be admitted to the United States ? 
How large was Texas ? Why did the southern members of Congress 
wish to get Texas? How did many of the northern members of Con- 
gress feel about it ? What two reasons did they have for this feeling ? 
Which party gained the day ? Was Texas annexed ? In what year ? 
What two great pieces of land had we added before we got Texas ? 

§ 193. Review. In what ye-r did Professor Morse build the first 
telegraph line in the world ? Between what two cities did he build it ? 
What is said about the construction of telegraph lines since that time ? 
What is said about the telephone ? While Tyler was President what 
new state did we add to the Union ? How many states did that make 
in all? 

§ 194. Who was our eleventh President ? What did the people cry 
out about Oregon ? What did the United States and Great Britain do 
about Oregon ? How many great pieces of land had we added before 
we got Oregon ? Can you name them ? How far west did Oregon carry 
the northern part of the United States ? 

§ 195. What happened the year that we got the Oregon question 
settled ? What river did Texas say was her western boundary? What 
did Mexico say to that ? How many miles difference was there between 
the two boundaries ? What did the United States resolve to do about 
that narrow strip of land? What did we send General Taylor to do in 
the spring of 1846 ? W^hat is said about his battles? What general went 
out, by sea, to Mexico the next year ? What did he do ? Did our sol- 
diers lose any battles in the Mexican War? What three young American 
officers fought in that war ? What is said about them ? 

§ 195. When peace was made what did Mexico give us ? How many 
additions had we now made to the territory of the United States ? Can 
you tell what they were ? What three new states had we admitted to 
the Union ? Which one of these was the last slave state which came 
into the Union? How many states did this make in all? 

§ 197. What did a man find at Captain Sutter's sawmill in California 
in 1848? What happened when the news got abroad? 

§ 198. What happened when the news got to the East ? What three 
ways did the gold seekers take to get to California ? Were any of these 
ways easy? Tell what you can about the journey across the country to 
California. How many people entered California in a single year ? How 
much gold did they get in about ten years ? 

§ 199. What is said about the Oregon Country ? Where did the 
Mormons go ? Why did they go there ? What did they do in the 
desert ? What is the name of their largest settlement ? 

§ 200. To what other western territories did people begin to emigrate ? 
What towns did they build there ? What happened when gold was found 
in Colorado in 1858? What is said about a new line of stagecoaches? 
What kind of an express was started later ? What can you tell about 
that express ? What was done about two years later ? 



QUESTIONS xxiii 

§ 201. What new line of stagecoaches was now put on? Can you 
tell anything about traveling by these coaches ? 

§ 202. What great piece of work was finished in 1869 ? What did the 
Indians do when they saw and heard the locomotive ? How many Pacific 
railways are there now in the United States ? How many states do they 
run through ? What made those states ? 

§ 203. Review. While James K. Polk was President what treaty did 
we make with Great Britain ? What war began in 1846.'* What was it 
about ? What is said of the battles in that war ? What did Mexico do 
when peace was made ? What did that land include ? How many pieces 
of land had the United States added before ? What three new states were 
admitted ? How many did this make in all ? What was discovered in 
California ? What did it cause ? What settlements had already been 
begun in the far West .'' Into what territories did emigrants begin to 
go ? What is said about the " pony express " ? What came after 
that express .-^ What was built last.'' How many other great railways 
followed ? What did they do for the West ? 

§ 204. Who was our twelfth President .'' What did California now 
ask ? What did President Taylor want ? How did Henry Clay feel ? 
What did John C. Calhoun and other southern men want .-* What did 
they think about slavery ? How did most northern members of Con- 
gress feel ? What did Abraham Lincoln say ? What did a few northern 
members of Congress say ? 

§ 205. Can you tell how Henry Clay tried to settle the dispute ? What 
was his plan called ? What did he say about California ? What did he 
say about the rest of the territory we had received from Mexico ? What 
new law did he say Congress could make ? 

§ 206. What did Calhoun declare about Clay's Compromise plan ? 
Did Congress vote for the Compromise ? Who became our thirteenth 
President after President Taylor's death ? What state was admitted in 
1850? How many states did that make ? 

§ 207. Review. Under President Taylor what did California ask ? 
What did Congress do ? After Vice President Fillmore had become 
President what plan did Congress accept ? Did California come in as a 
free state or a slave state .-* How many states did we then have ? 

§ 208. Who was our fourteenth President ? What happened the year 
after he became President ? Where was the Platte Country ? What did 
Stephen A. Douglas say about it ? What did many people at the North 
say to this ? What did Mr. Douglas reply ? What did Congress vote to 
do in 1854 ? What is said about Kansas and Nebraska territories ? 

§ 209. What happened as soon as Congress passed the law about slavery 
in Kansas and Nebraska ? What did emigrants from Massachusetts do ? 

§ 210. What did the Massachusetts emigrants call a Missouri man? 
What did the people of Missouri call a man from the East ? What did 
both parties soon begin to do ? What name did the new territory get ? 

§ 211. Review. While Franklin Pierce was President what did 
Stephen A. Douglas persuade Congress to do ? What had Congress 
promised about all that country? When Congress made the new terri- 
tories of Kansas and Nebraska what right did it give to the people ? 
What happened in Kansas? 



xxiv ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



§ 212. Who was our fifteenth President ? What did Abraham Lin- 
cohi and Stephen A. Douglas want to do? W'hat did they agree to do? 
What did they talk about ? W^hat did Douglas say ? What did Abraham 
Lincoln say ? Which one of the two was sent to Congress ? 

§ 213. What is said about John Brown in Kansas ? What did he now 
resolve to do ? Tell what happened at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in 1859. 
How did most of the people in the North feel about John Brown ? Did 
they intend to try to set the negroes free at the South? What did they 
want to do ? What two states had come into the Union ? What third 
state followed ? How many states did that make ? 

§ 214. Who was elected President in i860? What did the people of 
South Carolina resolve to do then ? What reason did they give for acting 
so ? Did Abraham Lincoln mean to set the negroes of the South free ? 
What did the South Carolina convention do ? 

§ 215. What six other states seceded? What four others seceded 
later? In all, how many states seceded? What were the "border 
states " ? Did any of them secede ? By what name did the eleven 
seceded states call themselves ? Whom did they elect president ? What 
did they do about a flag ? How did President Buchanan feel ? 

§ 216. Review. While James Buchanan was President what did 
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas do ? What did Mr. Douglas 
think about the people of Kansas ? What did Abraham Lincoln say to 
that ? What did John Brown do at Harper's Ferry, Virginia ? What is 
said about the people of the North ? What three states were admitted 
to the Union ? How many did this make in all ? 

§ 217. Who was our sixteenth President? What did the people of 
the eleven seceded states now do ? On what fort were the stars and 
stripes still flying? Who defended that fort ? What is said about him? 
What did President Lincoln do ? What did Jefferson Davis do ? What 
happened when Major Anderson refused to give up Fort Sumter? W^hat 
did Major Anderson have to do at last ? What is said about the flag? 

§ 218. WHiat did President Lincoln do? What did Jefferson Davis 
do ? How large did the Union army finally become ? How large did the 
Confederate army become ? What was going on for the next four years ? 
Where was the Union army gathered in 1861 ? Where was the Confed- 
erate army gathered ? Where was the first battle fought ? What hap- 
pened ? What good lesson did the battle of Bull Run teach the people 
of the North ? 

§ 219. What w^as the first part of the Union plan for carrying on the 
war ? Did the captains of the Union war ships do anything ? What was 
the second part of the Union plan ? What was one part of the Union 
army to do ? What was a second part to do ? What was a third part 
to do ? Who now took command of the Union army ? 

§ 220. What is said about the Merrimac ? What two Union vessels 
did the Merriinac destroy ? What Union vessel did the captain of 
the Merrimac set out to destroy the next day ? What is said about the 
Monitor ? What happened after that fight ? What is said about the 
new iron war ships built by the United States ? 

§ 221. What is said about Ulysses S. Grant? What did he do when 
the war for the Union broke out ? Where did he have an army in the 



QUESTIONS XXV 

winter of 1861 ? What two forts did he and Commodore Foote take, in 
the spring of 1862 ? "What terrible battle did General Grant win ? What 
new name did he get? Why? What state did he get possession of? 
How far south did the Union armies open the Mississippi River? 

§ 222. Review. What fort did the Confederates take, the first year 
of the war ? What did President Lincoln do then ? What great battle 
was fought in Virginia? Which side was beaten? What did Congress 
do thea ? What did the Union commanders begin to do ? Tell what 
their plan was. When was the first battle fought on the water? What 
did the Monitor do ? What did General Grant do in the West ? What 
great battle did he fight there ? What state did he get possession of ? 
How far south did the Union forces open the Mississippi River ? 

§ 223. What had the Confederates done at New Orleans ? What did 
Captain Farragut set out to do ? Did he do it ? Why could not Captain 
Farragut take Vicksburg ? Later on, what was Captain Farragut made ? 

§ 224. What is said about Colonel Robert E. Lee ? What did he 
become ? What did General McClellan now try to do ? Did he suc- 
ceed ? What did General Lee try to do ? Did he succeed ? 

§ 225. What great thing did President Lincoln do on New Year's Day, 
1863 ? What is said about the freedmen ? 

§ 226. Review. What did Captain Farragut do in the second year 
of the war for the Union ? What was he made ? What did General 
McClellan try to do? What did General Lee try to do? What did 
President Lincoln do on New Year's Day, 1863? 

§ 227. What great battle was fought in Pennsylvania in the summer 
of 1863? What happened? Did General Lee ever try to enter Pennsyl- 
vania again ? What was done at Gettysburg in the autumn ? What is 
said about that burial ground ? 

§ 228. While the battle of Gettysburg was going on what was happen- 
ing at the West ? What is said about Vicksburg ? What happened on 
the Fourth of July, 1863 ? What happened a few days later? What is 
said about the " Father of Waters " ? 

§ 229. What had the Union war ships done? What had the Union 
armies done ? What did President Lincoln now do ? What place did 
the Union soldiers take in Tennessee ? What did the President do for 
General Grant ? 

§ 230. Review. What happened to Lee in the third year of the war ? 
What place did General Grant take and what river did he open? What 
did President Lincoln do for General Grant ? 

§ 23L What did General Grant tell General Sherman? What was 
General Grant's plan ? Do you know how a vise acts ? 

§ 232. What did General Grant now do ? How many generals had 
tried to take Richmond ? Can you name some of them ? From what 
river did General Grant start ? What was the Wilderness ? What is 
said about the fighting in the Wilderness ? Could General Grant move 
straight on to Richmond ? What did he do ? 

§ 233. What did General Sherman do in the West ? How did the 
Confederate army try to stop him ? Did they stop him ? 

§ 234. What city in Georgia did General Sherman take ? What did 
the Union soldiers do there ? Why ? What did General Sherman then 



xxvi ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

set out to do? Where did Sherman's army arrive by Christmas? What 
is said about the great vise ? 

§ 235. What did General Sherman then start to do? How did his 
army get on? What did General Sherman do after the Union army 
reached North Carolina? 

§ 236. What city did General Grant enter? What did he do there? 
What happened a few days later? What did the "boys in blue" do for 
the "boys in gray"? What general now surrendered to General Sher- 
man? What is said about the war? What had it cost the North? 
What had it cost the South ? How many young men had the country 
lost ? What good had the war done ? What two new states were 
admitted while the war was going on ? How many did that make in all ? 

§ 237. Review. What did General Grant do in the last year of the 
war? What did General Sherman do ? What city did General Lee give 
up? What did he do a few days later? What is said about the end 
of the war ? 

§ 238. What did Major Anderson do on April 14, 1865? What ter- 
rible thing happened on the evening of that day? Who then became 
seventeenth President of the United States? 

§239. What is said about President Johnson and Congress? Did 
Congress remove the President ? What did Congress now tell the 
southern states which had seceded? What two things did those states 
have to promise? Did they agree to do it ? What had happened within 
five years after the war had ended? What had the United States given 
the negroes at the South ? What happened in South Carolina ? 

§ 240. How many great pieces of land had the United States got pos- 
session of ? Can you tell what they were ? What was the seventh piece 
which we bought ? What year did we buy it ? Did we get a good bar- 
gain ? What state came into the Union in 1S67 ? How many states did 
that make ? 

§ 241. Review. What terrible thing happened just after the war for 
the'Union ended ? What is said about President Johnson and Congress ? 
What is said about the southern states ? What is said about the negroes ? 
What great piece of land did we buy in 1867 ? What state was admitted 
to the Union that year? How many did that make in all? 

§ 242. Who was our eighteenth President? What great railway was 
completed in 1869 ? How long had it taken people to get to California? 
What is said about a man with an ox team ? What is said about the 
Pacific Railway ? What did Congress give to emigrants ? What is said 
about the farms in the far West ? 

§ 243. What is said about the United States and the weather? What 
people does that information help ? 

§244. When did the United States keep its hundredth birthday? 
What was done at Philadelphia? What was the main object of that 
exhibition? What is said about Philadelphia in 1776? How many 
states had we then ? Where were they ? How many states had we in 
1876? How far west did the United States extend in 1876? What 
inventions had the signers of the Declaration of Independence never 
seen? What state was admitted in 1876? How many did that make 
in all ? 



QUESTIONS xxvii 

§ 245. Review. What great railway was opened while General Grant 
was President ? What did it do for the far West ? What is said about 
the weather bureau .-' What is said about the hundredth birthday of the 
United States,? What state was admitted to the Union in 1876.? How 
many did that make in all ? 

§ 246. Who was our nineteenth President ? What did he do about the 
Union soldiers in the South ? Were the soldiers ever sent back there ? 

§ 247. What is said about the mouths of the Mississippi ? What is said 
about vessels leaving and entering that river ? What did Captain Eads do ? 

§ 248. Review. What did President Hayes do about the Union sol- 
diers in the South ? Was he right ? What did Captain Eads do ? 

§ 249. Who was our twentieth President ? What happened to him? 
Why did the man shoot him ? Who became President then ? 

§ 250. Does the United States employ many people ? Can you tell 
what some of them do ? What law did Congress make after President 
Garfield was killed? Why did they make the law? What does a man 
have to do now who wants to get work from the United States? What 
is the intention of the law? 

§ 251. What is said about the white people of the South after the 
war ? After a while, what did they begin to do ? What is said about 
the people there now ? 

§ 252. Review. Who was our twentieth President ? Who became 
our twenty-first President after President Garfield was murdered ? What 
new law did Congress pass ? What does that law do ? What is said about 
the people of the South ? 

§ 253. Who was our twenty-second President ? What great statue 
was set up in the harbor of New York? Who gave us that statue? 
Why? Tell all you can about the statue. 

§ 254. How many of our Presidents had died shortly after entering 
office ? Who then became Presidents ? What did people begin to ask 
after President Garfield was murdered? What law did Congress make 
in 1886? Suppose that the President and Vice President should both 
die or be removed from office, who would then become President ? 
What good does that do? What important law was passed in 1887? 
Why was that law passed ? 

§ 255. Review. What grand statue was erected while Grover Cleve- 
land was President ? Who gave us that statue ? Why ? What was the 
first of two very important laws passed by Congress? What was the 
second law ? What do both these laws do ? 

§ 256. Who was our twenty-third President ? Where is Oklahoma ? 
What does the name mean? What did President Harrison do about 
Oklahoma in 1S89? Tell what happened when the President gave the 
word. What city did the "boomers" begin to build? What is said 
about Oklahoma Territory ? 

§ 257. What six new states were admitted in 1889 and 1890? How 
many states did that make in all ? What is said about our building some 
new ships of war ? What did the people call these ships ? 

§ 258. Review. What is said about Oklahoma Territory ? What six 
new states were admitted in 1889 and 1890? How many did that make 
in all? What did the United States begin to build? 



xxviii ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

§ 259. Who was our twenty-fourth President ? What great exhibition 
was opened at Chicago in 1893? What was the object of it? Tell all 
you can about the exhibition. What vessels could be seen there ? 

§ 260. What dispute did we settle with England in 1893? What is 
said about Bering Sea ? What did we want to do ? What did England 
say? How was the dispute settled? Have we ever decided any other 
disputes in the same way? Do you think it is a better way than 
fighting? What new state did we add to the Union? How many did 
that make in all? How many stars would it make on our flag? Can 
you tell how many stripes our flag must have ? Can you tell what 
those stripes stand for ? Can you tell how many stars it must have ? 
Can you tell why ? 

§ 261. Review. What was done at Chicago when Grover Cleveland 
was President for the second time ? What dispute did we settle with 
England ? What agreement was made ? What new state was admitted? 
How many did that make in all ? How many stars would it make on 
the flag ? 

§ 262. Who was our twenty-fifth President ? How much of North 
America did the Spaniards once own ? What happened to the Span- 
iards ? Tell how they lost possession of the country. What did they 
have left at last ? 

§ 263. How did the king of Spain treat the Cubans ? What did the 
Cubans do ? What did President McKinley tell the Spaniards ? What 
war ship did we send to Havana ? What happened to her ? Do we know 
now just how the vessel was destroyed ? 

§ 264. What did President McKinley say then ? What did Congress 
do ? What did Congress tell the king of Spain ? What did Spain do ? 
What did we do in the spring of 1898 ? What happened then ? Where 
did we intend to strike Spain ? What is said about the people of the 
PhiUppines ? What did Commodore Dewey do ? What was Dewey 
made later on ? 

§ 265. What did President McKinley send to Cuba ? Who were the 
" Rough Riders " ? Who had command of the " Rough Riders " ? Did 
the " Rough Riders " do any fighting ? How did they fight ? Who 
fought most of the battles in Cuba ? What battle was fought in the 
summer of 1898 ? Tell all you can about it. Where did the Spanish 
take refuge ? What war ships had gone into that harbor ? 

§ 266. Whose war ships were waiting outside to catch the Spanish 
vessels ? What did some men shout on the Broo^/yn ? What happened 
then ? What prisoners did we take ? What did they think we would do 
with them ? 

§ 267. When did the war with Spain come to an end ? What did the 
king of Spain do ? What is Cuba to-day ? What did the king of Spain 
do with the Philippine Islands ? What two islands did he give us ? 
What had we done to the Spanish prisoners ? What did they do when 
they sailed for Spain ? 

§ 268. What other islands did we get in the Pacific ? How far are 
they from San Francisco ? How many pieces or lots of land in all have 
we added to the United States ? Can you name them ? What is said 
about the flag of the United States to-day ? 



QUESTIONS xxix 

§ 269. How many people did we have in 1790, when Washington 
was President? How many did we have in 1900? How many more 
people did we have then than when Washington was President? 

§ 270. What is said about a few discontented people in the United 
States ? What did some English sailors once do ? Where did they make 
a settlement ? How did they try to live on that island ? What happened 
after a little while ? What great lesson did the men learn ? What is said 
about the young man who shot President McKinley in 1901 ? Who 
became our twenty-sixth President? 

§ 271. What great work did some of our people complete on the 
Fourth of July, 1903? What did President Roosevelt do on that day? 
Can you tell in what direction the message went? Through what coun- 
tries did it pass? To what place did it come back? How long had 
it taken for that message to go around the globe ? How many miles 
had it traveled ? What kind of a message was it ? What was the first 
country that ever sent a message entirely around the earth ? What does 
that mean ? 

§ 272. What right of way did the United States buy in 1904 ? What 
did we buy, at the same time, from a French company ? What great 
work did we then proceed to finish ? What is said about that work ? 
What was the object of the Exhibition opened at St. Louis in the spring 
of 1904 ? What can you say of that Exhibition ? 

§ 273. Review. What United States vessel was blown up in Havana? 
Why did we begin war against Spain ? What did we force the King of 
Spain to do ? What islands did we get peaceful possession of in the 
Pacific Ocean ? When the war with Spain ended what did we own in the 
Atlantic ? What in the Pacific? After the murder of President McKin- 
ley who became President ? What did an American company do on the 
Fourth of July, 1903? What did Mr. Roosevelt do? What great work 
did we get ready to do the next year ? Why did the people of the West 
open a World's Fair at St. Louis ? 

§ 274. In Mr. Roosevelt's second Presidency what terrible disaster 
happened at San Francisco ? What new state entered the Union in 

1907 ? How many states did that make ? How many stars would it 
make on the national flag? 

§ 275. Describe the voyage of our battle ships round the world (1907- 
1909). What meeting did President Roosevelt hold at Washington in 

1908 ? Why was that meeting held ? What are some of the natural 
riches of our country ? Why should these gifts of nature be preserved ? 

§ 276. Review. During Mr. Roosevelt's second Presidency what great 
disaster happened at San Francisco ? What state was admitted to the 
Union in 1907 ? For what object did the United States send out a fleet 
of our war ships ? What meeting did President Roosevelt hold at Wash- 
ington ? W^hat very important question was talked over at that meeting ? 

§ 277. Who was our twenty-eighth President? What great discovery 
did Commander Peary make in the spring of 1909? Can you give an 
account of it ? 

§ 278. How many people did the Census of 1910 tell us we had on this 
continent? How many if we added those of our island possessions .> 
What is said about the condition of the American people ? What is said 



XXX ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 

about electricity and about gasoline? What do the trolley cars and the 
automobiles show ? What is said about the big auto trucks ? 

§279. What two states were admitted to the Union in 1912? How- 
many states have we now? How many stars have we now on our flag? 
What territory have we left on the American continent ? How big is 
that territory ? How far north is it of our boundary line with Canada ? 
What is that boundary line called? How long is it? Does it have any 
forts or soldiers to guard it ? How long is it since we had our War of 
1812 with England? How have we and Canada got on for more than 
seventy years? How have we acted toward each other? Who was 
elected President of the United States by the Democratic party in 1912 ? 

§ 280. Review. What great discovery did Commander Peary make ? 
What was the population of the United States in 1910? What two 
states entered the Union in 1912? How many states did that make? 
What is said about the great Line of Peace ? 

§ 28L Why did many thousands of people go to the city of Washing- 
ton in March, 1913? What is said about that city? What three public 
buildings are there in Washington that all wish to see ? Can you give 
some account of each of them? What can be seen in the Treasury? 
Where is the money which is raised by taxes deposited ? What is done 
with that money ? 

§ 282. What is said about the new Tariff of 1913? Is it expected to 
bring in as much cash as the old Tariff did ? W' hy did Congress pass the 
Income Tax law ? What does that law do ? What great celebration took 
place at Gettysburg in Pennsylvania in the summer of 1913? What do 
you think about that celebration ? 

§283. What is said about the great European War? W^hat did our 
country resolve to do? What is said about the World's Fair at San 
Francisco in 191 5 ? 

§ 284. Why did we enter the Great European War in the spring of 191 7? 



INDEX 



Key to Pronunciation. — a, e, i, o, u, long ; a, e, o, less prolonged ; a, e, T, o, d, short; 
a, e, i, o, u, ohscure ; far, last, fall, care; term ; food, foot, furl; 6 as m ior; oi as in oil; 
ow as in cow ; ch as in chin ; g as in get ; n as in linger, link ; ng as in sing ; th as in thin. 
The pronunciation of French and Spanish names can be learned best from a teacher or from 
a good dictionary. In practice most such names occurring in American history are pro- 
nounced as in English; e.g. Coronado, Spanish ko-ro-natho, is generally pronounced 
ko-ro-na'do. 



Abolitionists, iq8. 

Acadia (a-ka'dl-a) taken, gg. 

named Nova Scotia, gg. 
Adams, John, President, 162. 

John Quincy, President, ig3. 

Samuel, of Boston, 120. 
African pirates, war with, 1(5. 
Alabama admitted, 186. 
Alabama, Confederate war ;hip, 251. 
Alaska (a-las'ka) purchased, 274. 

value of, 276. 
Albany, 40, 172, 173. 
Algiers (al-jerz'), pirates of, 165. 
Alien and Sedition Acts, 163. 
Allen, Ethan, 126. 
Amendments to the Constitution, 1 

note I, 274. 
America discovered by the Northmen, 

discovered by Columbus, 7. 

continent of, discovered by Cabot, 

how it got its name, 10. 

the Dutch in, 38. 

English explorations in, 16. 

English try to colonize, 17. 

English colonize Virginia, 30. 

French in, 15, 2g, 66, 8g-g7, g8, gg, 
107-110. 

Spaniards in, 14, 16, 18, 2g4. 

corn found in, 27. 

potatoes and tobacco found in, 18. 

many kinds of people settle in, 4g, 

compared to a battle ship, 4g. 

animals brought to, 74. 

compared to a magnet, 204. 

Indians of, see Indians. 

colonies planted in, see Colonies. 

See, too. United States. 
"America for Americans," igi. 
Americus Vespucius, see Vespucius. 
Amerigo Vespucci, see Vespucci. 



Anderson, Major, 244, 270, 
Andre (an'dra) executed, 144. 
Andros (an'dros), Governor, 112-114. 
Animals brought to America, 74. 
Antietam (an-tetam), battle of, 257. 
Appomattox (ap'po-mat'toks), 268. 
Aibitration of Bering Sea dispute, 2g2. 
Arizona (ar-i-z6'na), 218; state, 313. 
Arkansas (arkan-sa') admitted, 201. 
Army, Confedera'e, 246. 

Continental, 124, 125, 126. 

Union, 245, 246. 

See, too, War. 
Arnold, '.'enedict, services of, 128, 135. 

turns traitor, 143-145. 
Ar.hur, Chester A., President, 283. 
Atlanta, battle of, 266. 
Augustine, St. (sant a'gus-ten'), 16. 

oldest town in the United States, 16. 

Balboa (bal-bo'a) discovers the Pacific, 14. 
Baltimore, 65, 178. 

Battles, Antietam (an-te'tam) (Civil War), 
257- 

Atlanta (Civil War), 266, 

Baltimore (War of 1812), 178. 

Bennington (.Revolution), 135. 

Braddock's defeat (Colonial wars), 104. 

Bull Run (Civil War), 246. 

Bunker Hill (Revolution), 125. 

Camden (Revolution), 142. 

Canadian (War of 1812), 176, 17S. , 

Chattanooga (chat'ta-noo'ga) (Civil 
War\ 263. 

Concord (konk'tjrd) (Revolution), 124. 

Co7istit7ition and Guerriire (gar-ry- 
ar') (War of 1812), i7g. 

Fort Sumter (Civil War), 243. 

Gettysburg (Civil War), 259. 

Indian, see War. 



XXXll 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



Battles, Kearsarge (kgr'sMrj) and Alabatna 
(Civil War), 251. 

King's Mountain (Revolution), 142. 

Lake Champlain (War of 1812), 181. 

Lake Erie (War of 1812), 180. 

Leopard SinA Chesapeake, 172. 

Lexington (Revolution), 122. 

Long Island (Revolution), 132. 

Louisburg (Colonial wars), 100. 

Manila (ma-nTl'a) (war with Spain), 
296. 

Mexican War, 215. 

Monitor and Merrimac (Civil War), 
249. 

Monmouth (Revolution), 138. 

New Orleans (or'le-anz) (War of 1812), 
182. 

New Orleans (Civil War), 256. 

North and South Carolina (Revolu- 
tion), 145. 

Oriskany(o-ris'ka-ny)(Revolution),i35. 

Pittsburg Landing (Civil War), 252. 

Princeton (Revolution), 133. 

Quebec (kwe-bek') (Colonial wars), 107. 

Quebec (Revolution), 128. 

Richmond, around (Civil War), 257. 

Santiago (san-tg-a'go) (war with Spain), 
297, 298. 

Saratoga (Revolution), 135. 

Sumter, Fort (Civil War), 243. 

Ticonderoga (ti-kon'dgr-o'ga) (Revo- 
lution), 126. 

Tippecanoe (Indian wars), 175. 

Trenton (Revolution), 132. 

Vicksburg (Civil War), 261. 

Wilderness (Civil War), 264. 

Yorktown (Revolution), 146. 

See, too, War. 
Battle ship, America compared to a, 49, 50. 
Beauregard (b5'reh-gard'), General, 244; 

note I, 246. 
Bees brought to America, 75. 
Bell, Professor, 210. 
Bennington, battle of, 135. 
Bering (be'ring) Sea dispute settled, 292. 
Bicycle, the first, 174. 
" Bleeding Kansas," 236. 
Blockade of southern ports, 248, 262. 
Books read by the colonists, 76. 
Boone, Daniel, 157. 
Border states, the, 242. 
Boston founded, 56. 

tea destroyed in, 120. 

port of, closed, 120. 

British cooped up in, 124. 

British driven out of, 128. 



Bounty paid to colonists by the king, 115. 
Braddock's defeat, 102-104. 
Brattleboro, Vermont, 58. 
Brown, John, attempts to liberate slaves, 
239. 243- 

execution of, 240. 
Buchanan (buk-an'an), James, President, 

237- 
Buffalo, 202. 
" Buffalo Bill," 228, 297. 
Bull Run, battle of, 246, 247. 
Bunker Hill, battle of, 125. 
Burgoyne's defeat, 135. 
Burr, Aaron, shoots Hamilton, 169. 

his western plot, i6g. 

arrested and tried for treason, 170, 

Cabin, building a log, 72. 

Cabinet, Washington selects his, 153. 

meaning of the word, note, 153. 
Cabot discovers continent of America, 9, 10. 
Calhoun, John C, advocates nullification, 
200. 

believes in slavery, 230. 

fears disunion, 232. 
California added to United States, 218. 

gold discovered in, 220. 

the rush of gold seekers to, 220. 

stage, pony express, telegraph, and 
railway to, 226-229. 

dispute over admission of, 230. 

admitted, 233. 
Camden, battle of, 142. 
Canada, settled by the French, 29. 

the French lose, 108, 109. 
Canal, the Erie, 193 ; the Panama, 306, 318. 
Capitol at Washington, 164, 178. 
Carver, Governor John, 52. 
Catholic church, the first in America, 64. 
Catholic emigrants to Maryland, 63. 
Catholic missionaries in Canada, 89. 
Catholics grant religious liberty, 64. 
Census, the first, 156. 

of 1900,156; of 1910, 312. 
Charleston, South Carolina, 66, 142, 241. 
Charter, meaning of word, iii. 

the Connecticut, saved, 112. 
Charter Oak, the, 113. 

Charters, the king's to the colonists, in, 
112. 

what they promised, in, 118. 
Chattanooga (chat'ta-nob'ga), battle of, 263. 
Chicago, growth of, 203. 

exhibition at, 290. 
Children, first come to America, 52. 

helpful in the colonies, 75. 



INDEX 



XXXlll 



Cincinnati, 158. 

City, the oldest in the United States, 16. 

Civil Service Reform Act, 283. 

Civil War, see War. 

Clark, Captain George Rogers, 138. 

Clark and Lewis go to the Pacific, 169. 

Clay, Henry, the "peacemaker," 187, 188. 

and Missouri Compromise, 186-188. 

and national road, 189, 190. 

and tariff dispute in South Carolina, 201 . 

his compromise measures of 1850, 231- 

233- 
Cleveland, Grover, President, 285, 290. 
Coal and iron in Pennsylvania, 44. 
Cody, Colonel W. F., 228. 
College, Harvard, founded, 57. 
Colonies, the English in Virginia, 17, 18. 

first permanent English, 29. 

see names of the thirteen. 

charters of the, iii, 112. 

general review of the American, 70. 

grew like a grove of oaks, 70. 

how the first settlers lived in the, 72-80. 

George the Third taxes the, 117, 118. 

declare themselves independent, 129. 
Colonists become landowners, 33. 

raise tobacco, 33-35- 

buy slaves, 34. 

get white laborers, 35. 

make laws, 35, 36, 78, 112. 

and Indians, see Indians. 

how they lived, 72-80. 

what they learned to do, 77. 

how they kept good order, 78. 

their books and schools, 48, 57, 76, 77. 

how they got on in the world, 78. 

how the rich lived, 79. 

what they all agreed in, 80. 

cling to their charter rights, iii, 112, 
118. 

English trade laws and the, 114, 115. 

generally contented, 115. 

George the Third taxes the, 117-121. 

refuse to pay taxes, 121. 

resolve not to buy English goods, 120. 

resolve to stand by each other, 121. 

make ready to fight, 121, 122. 

fight for their rights, 124. 

declare themselves independent, 129. 
Colorado admitted, 280. 

gold found in, 226. 
Columbia River named, 169. 
Columbus plans a voyage to the West, 4. 

his voyage, 5-7. 

discovers America, 7, 8. 

his later voyages, 8, 9. 



Columbus, what he actually found, g. 

models of his ships at Chicago, 292. 
Compromise, the Missouri, 186-188, 233- 

tariff, Clay's, 201. 

measures of 1850, 231-233. 
Concord (konk'urd), battle of, 124. 
Confederate States organized, 242. 
Congress, first Continental meets, 121. 

declares the colonies independent, 129. 

at close of the Revolution, 149. 

action of, in the Civil War, 247. 
Connecticut (kon-net'i-kut), colony of, 58-60, 
63, 82. 

charter hidden, 112, 113. 
Constitution, the, framed and adopted, 150, 

15'' 

important provisions of the, 150, 151. 

amendments to the, 151. 

value of the, 151. 
Constitution built, 163. 

captures the Gnerriere (gar-ry-ar'), 
179, 180. 
Continental army formed, 124. 

coops up the British in Boston, 124, 125. 

Washington takes command of, 126. 

drives the British out of Boston, 128, 
129. 

See the Revolution. 
Corn firs^ found in America, 27. 

Indians teach settlers to raise, 27, 73. 

great value of, 27. 
Cornwallis, Lord, 132, 142, i45» 146, 147- 
Coronado (ko-ro-na'uo) explores the West, 

14. 
Cotton growing at the South, 158, 159, 160, 
285. 

gin invented, 159, 160. 

gin, effects of the, 160. 
" Cotton is king," 160. 
Cotton mills at the South, 285. 
Court, United States Supreme, organized, 
154. 

decision respecting slavery, note, 238. 
Cowboys, 297. 
Cuba, people of, fight Spain, 295. 

United States declares independent, 296. 

See War with Spain. 

Davis, Jefferson, in the Mexican War, 216. 

President of Confederate States, 242. 
Debate between Douglas and Lincoln, 237- 

239- 

Debt, keep out of, 204. 

Debt of United States at close of Revolu- 
tion, paid, 155. 

Declaration of Independence, 129, 153. 



XXXIV 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



Deerfield burned, gg. 
Delaware, first settlement in, 46. 

bought by William Penn, 46. 
Delaware, Washington crosses the, 132. 
Denver, 226. 

De Soto discovers the Mississippi, 15. 
Detroit, 86, 160. 

surrendered by Hull, 176, 177. 
Dewey, Admiral, 297. 

Douglas, Stephen A., and Kansas-Nebraska 
Bill, 233-235. 

debates with Lincoln, 237-239. 
Drake, Sir Francis, in California and Ore- 
gon, 16. 
Duquesne (dii'kan'). Fort, 104. 
Dustin, Mrs., and the Indians, gS, 99. 
Dutch, the, and the Pilgrims, 50. 

a very enterprising people, 39. 

in New Netherland, 38-41. 

buy Manhattan Island, 38, 39. 

patroons, 39. 

give up New Netherland, 41. 

Eads (eedz), Capt. J. B., and the Missis- 
sippi, 2S2. 
Education in the colonies, 48, 57, 76. 
Election of Presidents, see names of Presi- 
dents. 
Electricity, see Telegraph and Telephone. 
Electric Lights and Street Cars, 292, 313. 
Emancipation of the slaves, 257. 
Embargo Act, 172. 
Emigrants to Virginia, 30. 

some sell themselves to pay passage, 
48, 49. 

women go to Virginia, 34. 

all loved liberty, 49. 

go West, 157, 158, i8S-igo, igi, 194, 
201, 202, 220-226, 277. 

See, too. Immigrants. 
England claimed part of America, g, 10. 

plants colonies in America, 29. 

grants charters to colonists, in, 112. 

how ruled America, 11 1-1 16. 

taxes the colonists, 1 17-120. 

war with, see Revolution. 

tries to make peace, 138. 

recognizes the independence of the 
United States, 147. 

treaty of peace with, 147. 

Jay's treaty with, 160, 161.' 

holds forts after the Revolution, 160. 

refuses to let us trade with France, 161. 

searches American ships, 171. 

seizes American sailors, 172. 

War of 18 1 2 with, see War. 



England, Bering Sea dispute settled, 292. 

and America now good friends, 183. 
" Era of Good Feeling," 184, 185. 
Ericson (er'ik-son), Leif, at Vinland, 2, 3. 
Erie Canal constructed, 193. 
Exhibition, Centennial, at Philadelphia, 279. 

Columbian, at Chicago, 290. 

Louisiana Purchase, at St. Louis, 306. 

Panama Canal, at San Francisco, 318. 
Express, pony, to California, 225-227. 

Farms, western, 201, 202, 277. 
Farragut, Admiral, 256. 
lillmore, Millard, President, 233. 
Fire, how the colonists kindled a, 74. 

how the Indians made a, 23. 
Flag, history of the American, note 2, 135; 
136. 

our, at Saratoga, 135. 

the " Star-Spanglcd Banner," 179. 

the, on Fort Sumter, 245, 270. 

the Confederate, 242, 243. 

number of stars on now, 293. 
Flax raised in Londonderry, 58. 
Flint and steel to strike fire, 74. 
Florida discovered by Spaniards, 14. 

Spaniards drive the French from, 15. 

we buy, 185. 

Indian war in, 185. 

admitted, 210. 
Foote, Commodore, 252. 
Fort Donelson, 252. 

Duquesne (dii'kan'), 104, 105. 

Henry, 252. 

McHenry, 178. 

Pitt, 105. 

Sumter, 244, 245, 272. 

Ticonderoga (ti-kon'der-o'ga), 126. 
Forts, French colonial, 100-102, 104. 

obtained by Jay treaty, 161. 

Confederates seize United States', 243. 
France claims the Louisiana Country, 94-97. 

builds forts, 100-102. 

cedes Louisiana to Spain, 108. 

loses Canada and the West, 107-109. 

resolves to help the United States, 136, 
142. 

we pay debt to, 155. 

trouble with, 156, 157, 162, 163. 

demands money of us, 162, 163. 

war with, 163. 

seizes our ships, 171. 
Franklin, Benjamin, 115. 

and the Constitution, 150, 151. 

opposed to slavery, 160. 
" Freedmen," the, 259. 



INDEX 



XXXV 



" Freedmen," see Negroes. 
French, the, in Florida, 15. 

in Canada, 29, 89. 

on the Mississippi, 91-97. 

forts, 100-102. 

and Indian wars, 98-109. 
Fulton, Robert, and the steamboat, 172. 

"Gadsden (gadz'den) Purchase," the, 219. 
Gage, General (Revolution), 1 21-126. 
Garfield, James A., President, 283. 
Garrison, William Lloyd (loid), 198, 199. 
George the Third and America, 1 17-120, 

138, 147. 
Georgia, colony of, 67-69. 
Gettysburg, battle of, 259 ; celebration at, 317. 

soldiers' burial ground at, 260. 
Gold found in California, 220-224. 

found in Colorado (kol'o-ra'do), 226. 
" Good times have come," 185. 
Government by the king, iii-ii6. 

town meeting, 54, 55. 

Puritan, 57. 

Quaker, 43, 47, 48. 

in Virginia, 35, 36. 

at close of the Revolution, 149. 

the people frame a new, 149-151. 

See Constitution and Laws. 
Grant, Ulysses S., in the Mexican War, 216. 

at beginning of the Civil War, 251-253. 

" Unconditional Surrender" Grant, 252. 

takes Vicksburg, 261, 262. 

made General in Chief, 263, 

and Sherman's plan, 264. 

battles of the Wilderness, 264, 265. 

takes Richmond, 268. 

Lee surrenders to, 268. 

President, 276. 
Gray, Captain Robert, 169, 
Green Bay, Wisconsin, 91, 92. 
Greene, General (Revolution), 145. 
Greenland, the Northmen in, i, 2. 
Guthrie, 289. 
Guam (gwam), 299. 

Hale, Captain Nathan, executed, 130. 

Hamilton, Alexander, 153, 154, 169. 

" Hard times," what they taught us, 203, 

204. 
Harper's Ferry, Virginia, 240. 
Harrison, Benjamin, President, 28S. 

General William Henry, 175, 181. 

General William Henry, President, 207. 
Herkimer, General, 135. 
Hayes, Rutherford B., President, 281. 
Henry, Patrick, " We must fight ! " 121. 



Hooker, Rev. Thomas, 59. 

Houses, building the first, 72. 

Houston, Sam, 211. 

Howe, General (Revolution), 128, 132, 134. 

Hudson, Captain Henry, 37. 

Hudson River, name of, 38. 

Huguenots (hu'ge-nots) in American His- 
tory, 66. 

Hull, General William (War of 1812), 176, 
177. 

Hull, Commodore Isaac (War of 1812), 179, 
180. 

Hutchinson, Governor, a Loyalist, 131. 

Iceland, Northmen in, i, 2. 
Idaho (i'da-ho) admitted, 289. 
Illinois admitted, 186. 
Immigrants in Pennsylvania, 48, 49. 

gave America strength, 49. 

modem, 204-206. 

number coming now, 206. 

laws concerning, 206. 

See, too. Emigrants. 
Impeachment of President Johnson, 272. 
Impressment of American sailors, 171, 172. 
Independence, Declaration of, 129, 153. 
Indiana admitted, 184. 
Indians, American, origin of the name, 8. 

how they lived, 21, 25. 

their trails, 24, 25. 

number of, 25. 

their relations with the Whites, 25-27. 

wars of, see War. 

what they taught the Whites, 27, 53. 

make treaties with Whites, 48-53. 

raise corn, 27. 

sell land to the Whites, 38, 48, 81. 

how they cleared land, 73. 

return children to their parents, 86, 87. 

Roger Williams defends the, 60. 

attack western settlers, 158, 201. 

sold as slaves, 84. 

how they fought, 83. 

and the priests in Canada, 8g. 

attack overland stage, 228. 

and the steamboat, 173. 

and the locomotive, 228, 229. 

See, too," King Philip " and Tecumseh. 
Indies, Columbus sails for the, 4-9. 
Indigo raised in South Carolina, 67. 
Inventions, American, 158, 173, 174, 202 

207-209, 279, 280, 292, 313, 318. 
Iowa (i'-owa) admitted, 219. 
Iron and coal mines, 44. 
Iron and steel manufactures, 105, 114, 
285. 



xxxvi ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



Jackson, General Andrew, in Florida, 185. 

at battle of New Orleans, 182, 183. 

President, 198. 
Jamestown, Virginia, settled, 30. 
Jay, John, 154, 160, 161. 
Jefferson, Thomas, wrote Declaration of 
Independence, 153. 

opposed to slavery, 160. 

President, 164. 
Johnson, Andrew, President, 272. 
Johnston, General, surrender of, 269. 
Joliet (jo'le-et) and Father Marquette 

(mar'-kef), 90-92. 
Jones, Captain Paul (Revolution), 139. 

Kansas, emigration to, 225, 235, 236. 

civil war in, 233, 236. 

called " Bleeding Kansas," 236. 

admitted, 240. 
Kansas-Nebraska Act, 233, 234. 
Kearsarge (ker'sarj) and Alabama, battle 

of, 251. 
Kentucky Country, emigration to the, 157. 
Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, 163. 
Kentucky admitted, 161. 
King of England, how he ruled America, 
111-116. 

charters granted by, iii, 112. 

See, too, England. 
" King Philip's " War, 82-85. 

wife and son sold as slaves, 84. 
Kings Mountain, battle of, 142. 
Knox, General Henry, 154. 

Laborers, white, sold in Virginia, 35. 

sold in Pennsylvania, 49. 
Lafayette (la'fa'yef) in the Revolution, 

134, 146. 
visits the United States, 192. 
what the United States did for, 193. 
Land, Virginians become owners of, 33. 
colonists buy of the Indians, 38, 48, 

62,81. 
how the king granted, iii. 
the French claim Louisiana, 94-97. 
war between the English and French 

for, 98-109. 
the French lose all their American, 

108, 109. 
England's claim to, in 1763, 109. 
Spain's loss of American, 294, 295. 
added to the United States (1803-1898), 

300. 
cheap at the West, 201, 202. 
the rush for, in Oklahoma, 288. 
railways opened up at the West, 276. 



La Salle (la sal') on the Mississippi, 92-97. 
Laws, colonists help make (1619), 35, 36. 

colonists taKe part in making, 112. 

English Navigation and Trade, 114, 
115. 

Alien and Sedition Acts, 163. 

Embargo Act, 172. 

Missouri Compromise Act, 188. 

Fugitive Slave Act, 231. 

Compromise Measures of 1850, 23 1-233. 

Kansas-Nebraska Act, 233, 234. 

Immigrant, 206. 

Civil Service Reform, 283, 284. 

Presidential Succession Act, 287. 

Presidential Election Act, 288. 

See, too. Nullification and Tariff. 
Lee, Robert E., in Mexican War, 216. 

General, in the Civil War, 256, 257, 
259, 264, 268, 270. 

surrender of, 268, 270. 
Leif Ericson, see Ericson. 
Leopard zxiA Chesapeake, battle of, 172. 
Lewis and Clark's exploring expedition, 

167, 168, 214. 
Lexington, battle of, 122, 124. 
Liberator, The, Garrison publishes, 198. 
Liberty, religious, in America, 47, 62, 64. 

statue of, 285. 
Lincoln, Abraham, goes to New Orleans 
in a flatboat, igo. 

what he thought of slaver\', 23 1,238, 241. 

debates with Douglas, 237-239. 

elected President, 240, 241. 

President, 241. 

and Fort Sumter, 245. 

sets the slaves free, 257. 

puts General Grant in chief command, 
263. 

murdered, 272. 
Linen first made in America, 58. 
Liquor, use of, in early times, 196. 
Log cabin, building a, 73. 

life in, 74. 
London Company, 30, 35. 
Londonderry, New Hampshire, 58. 
Longfellow quoted, 80. 
Long Island, battle of, 132. 
Louisburg taken, 100. 
Louisiana Country named, 94. 

claimed for France, 94. 

immense size of, 94-97. 

ceded to Spain, 109. 

sold to the United States, 166, 167. 

how far it extended, 167. 

state of, admitted, 184. 
Loyalists or Tories in the Revolution, 131. 



INDEX 



xxxvu 



McClellan, General, 249, 257. 
Macdonough, Commodore, 181. 
Mackinaw (mak'i-na), 90. 
McKinley, William, President, 294. 

murdered, 304. 
Madison, James, President, 175. 
Mail, carrying the, to California, 226. 
Maine, settlement of, 57, 58. 

admitted, 188. 
Maine, destruction of the, 295. 
Manila (ma-nll'a), battle of, 296, 297. 
Manhattan Island, purchase of, 38, 39. 

given up to the English, 41. 

value of, to-day, 39. 
Manufactures, colonial, 105, 114. 

cotton, 160. 

iron and steel, 105. 

at the South, 289. 
March to the sea, Sherman's, 266, 267. 
Marietta, Ohio, 158. 
Marion (mar'e-on), General, 66, 142. 
Marquette (mar'kef), Father, 90, 91. 
Maryland colonized by Catholics, 64. 

first Catholic church in, 64. 

religious liberty in, 64. 
Massachusetts settled by Puritans, 55, 56. 

how governed, 57. 

who could vote in, 57. 

education in, 57. 

and the Quakers, 56. 

and Roger Williams, 60. 

" King Philip's" War in, 82-85. 
Massasoit (mas'sa-soit'). Indian chief, 52, 

54,61,83. 
Matches, none in early times, 74, 2S0. 
Mayflower, the, 52, 53. 
Mexico, the Spaniards in, 14. 

the Spaniards lose, 295. 

war with, 212, 215. 

land obtained from, 218. 
Michigan admitted, 201. 
Milwaukee, 202. 
Mines of coal and iron, 44. 
Minnesota admitted, 240. 
" Minutemen " in the Revolution, 
Mississippi, the, discovered, 15. 

the French on the, 90-97. 

trade on the, 190. 

closed 'oy the Confederates, 243, 254. 

opened by Union forces, 262. 

chief mouth of, deepened, 281, 282, 
Mississippi admitted, 186. 
Missouri asks to be admitted, 186. 

dispute in Congress over, 186-188, 

what Henry Clay said, 187, 188. 

Compromise, the, 188. 



Missouri admitted, 188. 
Mobile (mo-bel') founded, 94. 
Money, paper, in the Revolution, 133. 

Robert Morris raises, for Washington, 
133- 

borrowed from France, 136, 155. 

Government's need of, 149, 154. 

paid back to France, 155. 

demanded by France, 162. 

first coined by United States, 155. 

raised by first tariff, 154. 
Monitor and Merrimac, battle of, 249, 
Monmouth, battle of, 138. 
Monroe, James, President, 184. 
" Monroe Doctrine," the, 191, 192. 
Montana (mon-ta'na) admitted, 289. 
Montcalm (moN'kalm'), General, 106-108. 
Mormons emigrate to Utah, 224. 
Morris, Robert, raises money for Washing- 
ton, 133. 
Morse, Professor, invents the telegraph, 

207, 208. 
Mutineers(mu'ti-nerz'), story of the, 302, 304. 

National Road, the, 188-190. 

Navy, American, in the Revolution, 139. 

new ships built (1797), 163. 

punishes the African pirates, 166. 

first flag of, raised, 139. 

Leopard dinA Chesapeake, 172. 

in War of 1812, 178, 179-181. 

the Constitution, 163, iSo. 

in the Civil War, 248, 249, 251, 262, 263. 

takes New Orleans, 256. 

our new, 290. 

destruction of the Maine, 295, 296. 

in war with Spain, 296-298. 

great voyage of our battle ships, 309. 
Nebraska, emigration to, 225. 

admitted, 276. 
Nebraska-Kansas Act, the, 233, 234. 
Negro slaves sold in Virginia (1619), 34. 

set free (1863), 257, 258. 

freed in Union army, 259. 

freed at the South, 272, 274. 

freed, obtain right to vote, 274. 

freed, make trouble, 274. 

labor at the South now, 284, 285. 
Negroes, see Slavery, Freedmen. 
Nevada (ne-va'da) admitted, 270. 
New Amsterdam (New York City), 39, 41. 
New England, settlement of, 50. 
New Hampshire settled, 57. 

linen made there, 58. 
New Jersey, settlement of, 42. 

bought by Quakers, 42. 



xxxviii ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



New Jersey, Indians and Whites in, 42. 

well governed, 43. 

no poverty in, 43. 
New Mexico annexed, 218 ; state, 313. 
New Netherland (New York), 37-41. 
New Orleans (6r'le-?^nz) settled, 94. 

bought by the United States, 166. 

battle of (War of 1812), 182. 

taken by Farragut (1862), 256. 

trade of, 190, 281, 282. 

what Captain Eads (eedz) did for, 282. 
Newspaper, first colonial, 77. 

Garrison's The Liberator, 198. 
New York named, 41. 

See, too. New Netherland. 
New York City named, 41. 

value of, to-day, 39. 

once capital of the United States, 153. 

Washington inaugurated there, 153. 
North Carolina settled, 65-67. 

chief products of, 67. 
North Dakota (da-k5'ta) admitted, 289. 
Northmen, voyages of the, 1-3. 

discover America, 2-4. 

Leif Ericson (lif er'Tk-son), 2-4, 

and Vinland, 2, 3. 

names of, seen in America now, 3. 

what they have done for America, 3. 

model of a vessel of the, 292. 
Nullification, note i, 200. 

Ocean, Paul Jones on the, 139. 

America gets her share of the, 139. 
Oglethorpe (5'g'l-thorp), General, 67. 
Ohio, first settlements in, 158. 

admitted, 166. 
Ohio River, trade on the, 190, 191. 

emigrants on the, 190, 191. 
Oklahoma (ok-la-ho'ma) opened, 288, 289. 

the rush for, 288, 289; the state of, 308. 
" Old Colony," or Plymouth Colony, 56. 
" Old Hickory " (General Jackson), 198- 
" Old Ironsides " (the Constitution), 180. 
Omaha (o'ma-ha'), 226. 
Oregon, Sir Francis Drake in, 16. 

our claim to, 169, 213, 214. 

how we got, 214. 

emigration to, 224. 

admitted, 240. 

See, too, Captain Robert Gray and 
Lewis and Clark. 
Overland stage to California, 228. 

Pacific Ocean, discovery of the, 14. 
Pacific Railway, the first, 228, 276. 
railways, five, 229. 



Pakenham (pak'en-am), General, 182. 
Paper money in the Revolution, 13.^. 
Parliament, the English, note i, 118. 
Patriots and Tories in the Revolution, 130. 
Patroons (pa-trdonz'), Dutch, 39, 40. 
Peace, the Line of, 314. 

we resolve to keep, 318. 
Penn, William, and New Jersey, 42. 

obtains Pennsylvania, 44. 

buys Delaware, 46. 

founds Philadelphia, 46. 

his dealings with the Indians, 48. 
Pennsylvania granted to Penn, 44. 

settlement of, 45, 46. 

coal and iron in, 44. 

many emigrants go to, 48-50. 

religious liberty in, 47. 

schools in, 48. 

white laborers sold in, 49. 
Pepperrell, Colonel William, 100. 

created Sir William, 100. 
Pequot (pe'kwot) War, see War. 
Perry, Commodore (War of 1812), 180, 181. 
Philadelphia founded by Penn, 46, 47. 

the Continental Congress in, 121, 126, 
129. 

taken by General Howe, 134. 

the capital of the United States, 134. 

the British abandon, 138. 

exhibition at (1876), 279. 
Philippines (fil'Tp-ins), we buy the, 299, 
" Philip's, King," War, see War. 
Pierce, FrankUn, President, 233. 
Pilgrims, the, in England and Holland, 50. 

sail for America, 50-52. 

arrive at Cape Cod, 52. 

sign compact, 52. 

land on Plymouth Rock, 52. 

make a treaty with the Indians, 53. 

keep Thanksgiving, 54. 

hold town meetings, 54. 
Pillory and stocks, 78. 
Pirates, African, war with, see War. 
Pitt, William, 104, 105. 

Fort Pitt named for, 105. 
Pittsburg founded, 105. 

noted for iron and steel works, 105. 
Pittsburg Landing, battle of, 252. 
Plymouth Colony, 52. 

joined to Massachusetts, 56. 
Plymouth Company, 30. 
Plymouth Rock, 52. 
Pocahontas (po-ka-hon'tas), 31, 32, 33. 
Pole, the North, discovered, 310-312. 
Polk (poke), James K., President, 213. 
Pontiac's (pon'tf-ak's) War, see War. 



INDEX 



XXXIX 



Pony express to California, 226, 227. 
Population of the United States (1790), 156. 

(1900), 156, 302; (1910), 312. 
Portland, Maine, 58. 
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 57. 
Potatoes found in Virginia, 18. 

sent to Ireland, 18. 
Powhatan (pow-ha-tan'), 31. 
President, the Constitution gives us a, 150. 
Presidential Election Act, 287, 288. 

Succession Act, 286, 287. 
Press, printing, the first, 77. 
Princeton, battle of, 133. 
Prisoners, our Spanish, 299. 
Protective tariff, see Tariff. 
Providence, settlement of, 62. 
Provincetown, 52. 
P'iritans, why so called, 56. 

come to Massachusetts, 56. 

settle Boston, 56. 

what they believed, 55, 56. 

and the Quakers, 56. 

and Roger Williams, 57, 60. 

how they governed Massachusetts, 57. 

their schools and college, 57. 

Quakers buy New Jersey, 42. 

the, and the Indians, 42, 43, 48. 

how they governed New Jersey, 43. 

who they were, 44. 

what they believed, 44, 45. 

persecuted in England, 45. 

come to Pennsylvania, 45. 

build Philadelphia, 46, 47. 

their laws, 47, 48. 

their schools, 48. 

establish religious liberty, 47. 

in Massachusetts, 56. 
Quebec (kwe-bek') settled, 29. 

battle of, 107, 108. 

taken by the English, 107-109. 

Americans attack (Revolution), 128. 

Railway or railroad, the first, 194-196. 

the first Pacific, 228, 276, 
Railways, five Pacific, 229. 

electric, 292. 

length of, in United States, 196. 
Raleigh (rawil), Sir Walter, 17, 18. 
Reaping machines, 202. 
Reconstruction of seceded states, 272. 
Redemptioners, note i, 49. 
Reform, temperance, 196, 197. 
Religious liberty in Pennsylvania, 47. 

in Maryland, 64. 

m Rhode Island, 62. 



Resolutions, Kentucky and Virginia, 163. 
Revere (re-veer ), Paul, 66, 122. 
Revolution, origin of the, 1 17-124. 

begins, 124. 

first object of the, 129. 

becomes a war for independence, 129. 

Patriots and Tories in the, 130. 

paper money of the, 133. 

battles of the, see Battles. 

France sends us help in the, 136, 138. 

end of the, 147, 148. 

United States at the end of the, 149-151. 

debt of the, paid, 155. 

See Washington, Greene, Arnold. 
Rhode Island settled, 62. 

religious liberty in, 62. 

Providence, 62. 
Rice in South Carolina, 67. 
Rich, the, how they lived in the colonies, 

79, 80. 
Richmond, capital of Confederate States, 
246. 

battles around, 257. 

attempts to take, 246, 257, 264, 265. 

taken by Union forces, 268. 
Road, the National, 188-190. 
Roads, in colonial times, 24. 
Roosevelt, Theodore, in war with Spain, 
297, 298. 

President, 304, 307. 

sends telegram around the world, 304- 
306.' 
"Rough Riders," the, in war with Spain, 
297. 

Sailors seized by pirates, 165. 

seized by the British, 172. 
St. Augustine (sant a'gus-ten') founded, 16. 

the oldest town in the United States, 16. 
St. Louis in 1804, 168. 

exhibition at, 306. 
Salem settled, 55. 
Salt Lake City, 225. 
Samoset (sam'o-set), 53. 
Sampson, Admiral, 298. 
San Francisco, 220, 222 ; earthquake at, 307; 

exhibition at (1915), 318. 
Santiago (san-te-a'go), battle of, 297, 298. 
Savannah, 68, 267. 
Schenectady (ske-nek'tg-de), 98. 
Schley (schla). Admiral, 298. 
Schools, public, 57. 
Scott, General, in Mexican War, 216. 

in Civil War, note i, 246. 
Search of our vessels, 171, 172, 176, 183. 
Secession, Garrison advocated, 199. 



xl 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



Secession, South Carolina threatens, 200. 

of South Carolina, 241, 242. 

of ten other states, 242. 

See, too. Reconstruction. 
Settlers, how the first lived, 72-80. 
Sherman, General, 264, 265. 

takes Atlanta, 266. 

marches to the sea, 266. 

goes North, 267, 268. 

Johnston surrenders to, 269. 
Ships, American, searched, 171, 172, 176, 

183. 
Silk, American, 68. 
Slavery begins in Virginia, 34. 

in the colonies, 34, 35, 79, 80. • 

effect of the cotton gin on, 160. 

Washington and Jefferson against, 160, 

Franklin against, 160. 

disputes about, 186-188, 210-212, 237- 

239- 
and the Missouri Compromise, 186-188. 
Garrison condemns, 198, 199. 
and annexation of Texas, 210-212. 
Calhoun believed in, 230, 231. 
how Lincoln felt about, 231, 23S, 241. 
and admission of California, 230-233. 
and Compromise Measures of 1850, 231, 

232. 
and Fugitive Slave Act, 231, 239, 240. 
and Kansas-Nebraska .\ct, 233, 234. 
Fight in Kansas over, 234-236. 
decision of Supreme Court on (note), 

238. 
debate by Lincoln and Douglas on, 237- 

239- 

John Brown tries to destroy, 239, 240. 

causes secession of slave states, 241, 
242. 

Lincoln emancipates the slaves, 257, 258. 

the Civil War destroys, 270. 

destruction of, helps the South, 284, 285. 

See, too, Freedmen and Negroes. 
Smith, Captain John, 31, 32. 
South, the, after the Civil War, 269, 272, 
2S1, 284-288. 

growth of the, since the Civil War, 284, 
285. 
South Carolina settled, 65, 66. 

Huguenots (hu'ge-nots) in, 66. 

products of, 67. 

resists the tariff, 200. 

threatens to secede, 200. 

secedes, 241, 242. 

fires on Fort Sumter, 244. 
South Dakota (da-ko'ta) admitted, 289. 
Spain and the Louisiana Country, 108, 109. 



Spain loses her American possessions. 294, 
295. 

the Cubans fight, 295. 

war with, see War. 
Spaniards discover the Pacific, 14. 

discover Florida, 14. 

conquer Mexico, 14. 

explore parts of America, 14. 

build St. Augustine (sant a'gus-ten'). 
,5, .6. 

discover the Mississippi, 15. 

hold America in 1600, 18. 
Spanish prisoners, 299. 
Stagecoaches, 76, 228. 
Stamp Act, 118, 119. 
Standish, Captain Myles, 54. 
Stark, Colonel John, 135. 
" Stars and Bars," 242, 243, 244. 
" Stars and Stripes," see Flag. 
Stars, number of, on our Hag, 293. 
States, present number uf, 313. 
Statue of Liberty, 285, 2S6. 
Steamboat, Fulton's, 172. 

in the West, 173. 
Steamship, the first, 174. 
Steamships, regular lines of, 205. 
Steel and iron works, 105. 
Stocks and pillory, 78. 
Stuyvesant (sti've-sant). Governor, 40, 41. 
Sumter, General (Revolution), 142. 
Sumter, Fort, battle of, 243, 244. 
Sutter (sut'er). Captain, 220. 

Taft, W, H., elected President, 309. 
Tar, pitch, and turpentine, 67, 115. 
Tariff, the first, 154 ; of 1913, 317. 

South Carolina resists the, 200, 201. 
Tax, the king levies a, 117. 

colonists refuse to pay, 118, 119. 

stamp, 118, 119; the income tax, 317. 

on tea, 119, 120. 

states levy, on each other, 149. 

Congress raises money by (tariff), 154 

South Carolina resists (tariff), 200, 201. 
Taylor, General (Mexican War), 216. 

President, 230. 

death of, 233. 
Tea, colonists '•efuse to drink, 120. 

colonists destroy, 120. 
Tecumseh (te-kum'seh), Indian Chief, 175. 

See, too, War. 
Telegram, President Roosevelt's, 304-306. 
Telegraph, the, invented, 207, 208. 

growth of the, 210 ; the wireless, 210. 

to California, 227. 

American Pacific, 304. 



INDEX 



xli 



Telephone, the, invented, 210. 
Temperance reform, 196, 197. 
Tennessee admitted, 161. 
Territory annexed, see Land. 
Texas, dispute over, 210-212. 

annexed, 210-212. 

admitted, 219. 

the last slave state, 219. 
Thanksgiving, the first, in America, 54. 

for Union victories, 263. 
Ticonderoga (ti-kon'der-o'^a) taken, 126. 
Times, the hard, of 1S37, 203, 204. 
Tippecanoe, battle of, 175. 
Tobacco found in America, 18. 

sent to Europe, 18. 

raised in Virginia, 33-35. 

raised in Maryland, 65. 

trade with England, 33, 34, 114, 115. 
Tories and Patriots (Revolution), 129-132. 
Tories leave the United States, 131, 132. 
Town meetings in New England, 54, 55. 
Town, oldest in the United States, 16. 
Trade laws, English, 114, 115. 

not free between the states, 149. 

on western rivers, 190, 191. 

with West Indies, 161. 
Trails, Indian, 24. 
Travel in colonial days, 76. 
Treaties, Indian, 48, 53. 
Treaty of peace with England, 147. 

Jay's, with England, 160, 161. 

the Oregon, 214. 
Trees, girdling, 73. 
Trenton, battle of, 132, 133. 
Tyler, John, President, 207. 

Union, talk about destroying the, 199. 

Garrison would destroy the, 199. 

eleven states secede from the, 241, 242. 

war for the, see War. 

See Constitution, Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, Government, and United 
States. 
United States becomes independent, 129. 

Philadelphia first capital of, 134- 

Constitution of, adopted, 149-151. 

New York, capital of, 153. 

Washington, first President of, 152, 153. 

government of, organized, 153. 

first tariff of, 154 ; the Treasury of the, 316. 

coins first money, 155. 

takes first census, 156. 

census of 1910, 156. 

extent of, at close of Revolution, r67. 

extent of , after I -ouisiana Purchase ,167. 

Washington, capital of, 164, 165. 



United States builds National Road, 188; 
190. 
sells farming land cheap, 201, 202. 
threats of secession from, 199. 
eleven states secede from, 241, 242. 
reconstruction of seceded states of, 272. 
celebrates hundredth birthday, 279. 
growth and progress of, 279, 280, 290, 

291, 292, 293, 303, 312. 
tenitory acquired by, see Land, 
wars of, see War. 
oldest town in, 16. 
population of, in 1790, 156. 
population of, in 1900, 156; in 1910,312. 
extent of, to-day, 302. 
number of states in, now, 313. 
saving the natural wealth of the, 309. 

Utah (Q'ta), Mormons go to, 224, 225. 
admitted, 293. 

Vail, Mr., and the telegraph, 210. 
Valley Forge, Washington at, 134, 138. 
Van IJuren, Martin, President, 203. 
Van Rensselaer (van rens'se*lcv) estate, 40. 
Vermont, first settlement in, 5S. 

admitted, 161. 
Vespucci, Amerigo (ves-poot'chee, a-ma- 

ree'go), 10. 
Vespucius, Americus (vgs-pu'shus, am-er'I- 

cus), 10. 
Vicksburg, battle of, 261, 262. 
Vinland discovered, 2-4. 
Virginia named, 1 7. 

original extent of, 17. 

Raleigh's colony in, 17, 18. 

tobacco and potatoes found in, 18. 

permanently colonized (1607), 30-34. 

tobacco raised in, 33-35. 

slaver>' begins in, 34. 

white laborers sold in, 35. 

English girls come to, 34. 

first legislature in, 35, 36. 
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, 163. 
Vote, who could, in Massachusetts, 57. 

War, Indian, 81. 
in Virginia, 82. 

Pequot (pe'kwot), in Connecticut, 82. 
" King Philip's," in Massachusetts, 

82-85. 
Pontiac's (pon'tT-ak's), 85-88. 
in Ohio, 158. 
in the West, 175, 201. 
in Florida, 185. 
French and Indian, first, 98. 



xlii 



ELEMENTARY AMERICAN HISTORY 



War, French and Indian, second and third, 
99, loo. 

fourth, 100-109. 
Revolution, the, see Revolution, 
with France, 163. 
with African Pirates, 165. 
of 1812, the, 176-184. 
with Mexico, 215-218. 
the Civil (1861-1865), begins, 243, 244. 

first call for Union troops in, 245. 

number of Union soldiers in, 246. 

number of Confederate soldiers in, 
246. 

fighting going on every day for four 
years, 246. 

Union plan for carrying on the, 247, 
248. 

losses in, 246, 269. 

cost of, 269, 270. 

the navy in, 248. 

battles of, see Battles. 

end of, 269. 

the South after, 269. 

destroyed slavery, 270. 

united North and South, 270. 

worth all it cost, 270. 
with Spain, 296-298. 

how we treated prisoners of, 299. 

territory gained by, 299. 
great European, of 19 14, 318. 
War ships, see Navy. • 

Washington as a surveyor, 102. 
fond of life in the woods, 102. 
carries message to the French, 102. 
leads soldiers against the French, 102. 
in Braddock's expedition, 104. 
commands Continental army, 126. 
drives the British out of Boston, 126, 

128, 129. 
at New York, 132. 
retreats through New Jersey, 132. 
crosses the Delaware, 132. 
wins victory at Trenton, 132, 133. 
at Princeton, 133. 

gets money from Robert Morris, 133. 
loses Philadelphia, 134. 
retreats to Valley Forge, 134, 138. 
Benedict Arnold turns traitor, 143, i/,4. 
and the government, 150. 
and the Constitution, 151. 
elected first President, 152. 
inaugurated at New York, 153. 
organizes the new government, 153, 154, 
declines to take part with France, 157. 



Washington and the Jay treaty, 161, 

abuse of, 161. 

death of, i6i. 
Washington, city of (1801), 164. 

to-day, 164, 165, 315, 316. 

taken by the British, 178. 

Confederates move against, 246. 
Washington, state of, admitted, 289, 
Water ways, Indian, 25. 
Wayne, General, in Ohio, 158. 
Weather Bureau, the, 278. 
Webster, Daniel, 232. 
West, the Spaniards in the, 14, 15. 

the French in the, 8g, 97. 

George Rogers Clark in the, 138, 139. 

emigration to the, 157, 191, 201, 220. 
224, 277. 

steamboats in the, 173. 

and the National Road, 188, 190. 

great farms of the, 277. 

growth of the, 190, 202, 203, 224. 

the desire to reach the, 188, 193. 

Aaron Burr in the, 169, 170. 

trade on rivers of the, 190, 191. 

settling the, 191. 

what helped to fill the, 201. 

Jackson first President from the, 198. 

territorial growth of, 300. 

pony express to the, 226, 227. 

overland stage to the, 228. 

Pacific railways to the, 228, 229. 

opening of the new, 224-229. 

telegraph to the, 227. 
West Indies discovered, 8. 

trade with, 161. 
West Point in the Revolution, 143, 
West Virginia admitted, 270. 
Wheat raising in Maryland, 65. 

in the West, 277. 
" White Squadron," the, 290. 
Whitney, Eli, 159. 
Wilderness, battles of the, 264. 
Wilson, Woodrow, President, 314, 315. 
Wisconsin admitted, 219. 
Wisconsin River, 91. 
Wolfe (woolf) takes Quebec, 105-108. 
Women emigrate to Virginia, 34. 
Wool, manufacture of, restricted, 114, 
Wyoming (wi-o'ming) admitted, 289. 

Yankee Doodle, 135. 

York, Duke of, and New York, 41, 42, 

46. 
Yorktown, battle of, 146, 147. 



